At least one person was killed while three others sustained varying degrees of injury when militants attacked a passenger bus at Ikot Mkporikpo portion of the Abak-Iwukem Road in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Odiko Macdon Ogbeche, confirmed the incident, saying they were on the trail of the perpetrators with a view to bringing them to justice.
In the same vein, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Etim Ekpo, Charman Dore, explained that the “the militants shot sporadically at the bus when the driver refused to stop after being flagged down by the hoodlums”.
Another bus, which ran into the scene in flight, according to the DPO, veered off the road, crashed into a building and caught fire when the frightened driver lost control.
He explained that occupants of the bus belonging to the Akwa Ibom Transport Company (AKTC) bled heavily “because the driver refused to stop and drop the affected passengers at the nearby health centre for treatment”.
“One of the injured died on the way because the driver was afraid and refused to stop after the shooting incident. He insisted on reaching safety in Aba before discharging the injured for treatment, but along the road, one died before reaching the hospital in Aba,” Dore said.
He expressed worry over the activities of the hoodlums, wondering why the militants refused to take the olive branch offered by Governor Udom Emmanuel, who appealed to them to lay down their arms for amnesty, rehabilitation and re-integration.
The governor had during his visit to the area, donated several truckloads of relief materials to thousands of community dwellers in both Etim Ekpo and Ukanafun local government areas, dislocated by the prolong security crises fuelled by cultists.
With the crises unabated even in the face of sustained interventions by security forces, Dore said religious organisations had been drafted in, with a view to tackling the matter spiritually.
He said: “As I am talking to you now, we are praying right now at the Utu Etim Ekpo Local Government Secretariat.”