A luxury bus driver was in the wee hours of Tuesday shot dead by suspected robbers near Awawa village, along Abuja- Lokoja road.

Our reporter gathered from the incident scene that the robbers numbering eight with sophisticated weapons attacked the G.U.O Okeke luxury bus with registration number XA 76 JJT and robbed passengers of their valuables and money, after killing the bus driver.

The bus conductor, Uchenna Emeka, put the time of the incident at around 2:15 am when the robbers emerged from the bush.

According to him, they had passed Awawa viallge and descending towards Yaba junction, when they sighted torchlight and the driver slowed.

He said gunshots were heard and the driver was hit and lost control of the bus, which entered into a bush.

"After killing the driver, the robbers forced all passengers inside the bus to lie face down on the ground and disposed them of money as well as valuables. Officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission later came at about 7 am to convey the driver's corpse to a mortuary," he added..

When contacted, Kwali Divisional Police Officer, Chief Superintendent Umar Ozigi, confirmed the robbery incident and said the police are investigating the matter.