Youth Corp members escape death in Taraba attack

Corps members housed in the Redeemed Christian Corpers Fellowship’s lodge behind the Federal Government Girls College, Jalingo, Taraba State, escaped death in the early hours of Thursday, after bandits numbering about seven stormed the lodge and robbed them.

Eight female and 12 male corps members were in the building when they were attacked by the armed men at about 1am.

Some of the corps members, who spoke with our correspondent on the telephone, said though they were still in shock, they were happy to have survived.

One of them, who identified himself simply as Jonathan told PUNCH Metro he woke up when he felt a “cold sword” on his neck.

He said, “I slept in the common room because I worked late into the night. I heard nothing until I felt something cold against my neck. I opened my eyes and saw a sword touching me.

“The man who held it then shouted at me to lie face down. The others then entered all the rooms I believed some were outside manning the entrance.”

Samuel said he lost his phones, laptop and DVD player and other valuables to the bandits who “spoke fluent English.”

Another corps member who pleaded anonymity for security reasons said he was the first to see the bandits.

He said, “I went to switch off the generator and as I got back, one of the female corps members told me she heard footsteps outside.

“I went to investigate what she heard using the flashlight on my phone. Immediately I opened the door, the bandits used a sword to push me back inside and asked me to lie down on the floor. The experience was scary.”

The corps members said apart from English, some of the bandits also spoke Hausa and Igbo fluently.

One of them said, ‘The armed men kept asking ‘where is your money? Where is your phone?’ They asked each of us about our state of origin and religion. They said they would kill all of us.

 

“When they went into a room, they asked one of us, an Ibo, which state he was from. When the corps members said he was from Abia, one of them said, ‘Leave him, he is one of our people.’

However, spokesperson of the state police command, Mr. Amos Olaoye, said, “It was a case of burglary and stealing.”

He told our correspondent on the phone that the command was investigating the case.

“The corps members slept off and the suspects entered their lodge. Nobody has been arrested. We are working on the case,” he said.

Culled: Punchng