Posted by By ROSE EJEMBI, Makurdi on
Detectives on the trail of a gang of bank robbers that killed two policemen in Benue State have declared wanted a police officer suspected to be the gang leader.
Detectives on the trail of a gang of bank robbers that killed two policemen in Benue State have declared wanted a police officer suspected to be the gang leader.
According to the police in Benue, the bandits recently robbed a community bank in Naka, headquarters of Gwer West Local Government Area of the state and killed two policemen and three civilians.
The State Commissioner of Police, Mr Ibezimako Aghayan, said the wanted police officer was last seen at his duty post a day before the robbery and had since not returned.
Aghayan told reporters that it was discovered during investigation that the vehicle used by the robbers belonged to the fleeing police officer.
The commissioner urged his men to desist from crime, stressing that anyone caught would be severely dealt with and that he would not condone any unwholesome behaviour from people who are supposed to protect life and property.
Aghayan disclosed that he had already informed the Inspector General of Police about the development during the burial of the two officers who were killed during the robbery. He maintained that any officer found wanting would not be spared.
A four-man gang of armed robbers stormed the community bank in Benue at about 2pm two weeks ago and carted away six million naira meant for the payment of local government staff salary. One of those killed was an old woman selling bean cake opposite the bank.
Angered by the development, commercial motorcyclists in the area, alongside the police, went after the bandits who abandoned their car and burnt it before escaping with their loot.
However, two of them who were shot by the police were found dead in the bush the next morning and were later paraded before reporters at the state police command headquarters in Makurdi.