Posted by By Vincent Ujumadu on
UMUAHIA - Six persons including four policemen lost their lives in two separate armed robberies in Umuahia and Aba on Sunday night.
UMUAHIA - Six persons including four policemen lost their lives in two separate armed robberies in Umuahia and Aba on Sunday night.
One of the robberies was at the Umuahia branch of a commercial bank while the other was at Uratta in Aba. The other two victims in the robbery attacks were a guard at the bank while the other was one of the robbers. Four persons, including the Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Umuahia Area Command were wounded.
The robbers could however not remove anything from the bank because of the quick intervention of the police.
Deputy Commissioner of Police in Abia State, Mr. Jacob Oshomogho who briefed reporters on the robbery said that three of the armed robbers escaped with bullet wounds.
Items recovered from the robbers include a Mercedes Benz 190 car with registration number BH 558 AGL, an eighteen seater bus belonging to the Rivers Transport Company Ltd. with registration number XA 643KNM, two AK 47 rifles, several magazines, 6000 expended bullets, hammers and three giant gas cylinders which they allegedly wanted to use in breaking into the bank vault.
Said the commissioner: 'This was the first major bank robbery in Umuahia. Other bank robberies had taken place in Aba and this is why what happened in Umuahia is a new dimension. So if we don't tell the people the true story, they are likely to go to town with their own version."
According to him, 'some hoodlums numbering about 20 went to rob the bank. On their way they encountered some policemen at Ubakala area of Umuahia and opened fire on them. As they approached the Federal Medical Centre junction close to the bank, they met another detachment of the police and again opened fire on them and eventually grounded their patrol vehicle.