Dare-devil robbers on Monday night attacked The Guardian reporter, Eniola Daniel and photo editor, Femi Adebesin-Kuti with a cutlass on their way home after work.
The duo was attacked around Apakun bridge, along Murtala Muhammad International Airport (MMIA) Road, Lagos, after the vehicle of the photo editor developed a fault.
Daniel, a city and police reporter, was dealt a machete cut on his head and his iPhone XR, itel phone, voice recorder and N64,000 cash taken away from him, while the photo editor lost his professional camera and other valuables to the robbers.
After the attack, Daniel managed to run back to the Rutam House office of The Guardian along the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway in a pool of his blood and was immediately taken to the hospital.
Adebesin-Kuti would have suffered a more grievous injury as a machete blow meant for the left side of his face landed on the frame of his eyeglasses. He, however, suffered bloodshot eye and bruises on his face.
His digital camera, two phones and some money were stolen from him.
He managed to escape into his neighbourhood not far from where they were attacked and mobilised people to the scene to retrieve his car but their attackers had already fled.
“While the attack was going on, motorists on the Airport Road just sped past us. No one waited to intervene or even scare away the attackers,” Adebesin-Kuti said
The Guardian photo editor Femi Adebesin-Kuti shows the bloodshot eye suffered after he and a colleague Eniola Daniel were attacked on Monday, March 28, 2022, by robbers.
“Even after the attackers left and we were obviously losing blood, all the cars we waved down did not wait to offer assistance.”
Narrating his ordeal at Comfort Home Hospital, Seinde Calisto, Oshodi, where he was treated, Daniel said: “When the vehicle broke down, I tried to push it, but suddenly, a group of boys came out from under the bridge and we thought they came to help us.
“Immediately, they brought out cutlasses and went for me. They demanded my phone and money.
“Afterwards, one of them dealt a cut on my head, after which I bled profusely. I had no option but to abandon everything and ran back to the office with the little strength left.”
Daniel said at the office, the editors mobilised a driver to take him to the hospital at 10:28 p.m.
Adebesin-Kuti said the robbers took advantage of the darkness in the area to carry out the crimes.
“Lagos State Government should restore streetlights on Airport Road,” he said. “Everywhere was dark as there was no streetlight switched on. It is not a good sight for the highway leading to a leading international airport to be left in darkness such that robbers can attack people on that busy road.”
When contacted, the Lagos Public Relations Officer, Superintendent of Police (SP) Benjamin Hundeyin, said the commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alabi is aware and has directed duty operations to map out a strategy to ensure that the menace is stopped immediately.
