Uber driver robbed at gunpoint, dispossessed of his car

An operator of a ridesharing service, otherwise known as Uber, is counting his losses after a three-man robbery gang snatched his car at gunpoint while pretending to pay him transport fare around an Automated Teller Machine point in the Obalende area of Lagos State.

The driver, who gave his name only as Seun for security reasons, was waiting for the passengers to withdraw money from the ATM when one of them suddenly brought out a gun
The two other members were said to have joined and dispossessed him of the Toyota Corolla, his two phones and N16,000 cash.

The robbers were, however, caught by the Close Circuit Television camera around the ATM gallery, where they subdued the driver.

Seun explained that the robbers zoomed off and headed towards the Third Mainland Bridge, adding that they ordered him to switch off the General Packet Radio Services with which his movement was being monitored.

“They dropped me off around Adekunle and asked for the security code of the car. I told them I did not know it. They said they only wanted to use the car for something. They seized my two phones and about N16,000 on me. They asked me to call my line the following day to know where they would drop the car. One of them suggested that I should be thrown into the water, but others rejected the idea. The whole thing happened between 3am and 4am,” he added.

 The driver stated that he ran to the Iyana Oworo area to report the incident to some policemen on patrol, but he was directed to another patrol team stationed a few metres away. He added that when he got there, the policemen could not reach the control unit to report the robbery.

He said, “They called somebody to send them a control unit number but the person sent them a wrong number. I was there for about 10 minutes before we went together in their patrol vehicle to meet another patrol team at Olopomeji. They copied the control unit number from the patrol van at the Olopomeji and radioed the incident.