A crack team of anti-robbery police squad from the Abia State Police Command foiled an alleged attempt by armed robbers to rob an old-generation bank in Umuahia during the weekend.
The Police spokesperson in the state, Geoffrey Ogbonna, a Superintendent of Police (SP), confirmed the incident to The Trumpet.
Ogbonna said that the command got the information that there was an attempt to rob a bank situated on Bank Road in the capital city.
He said that the command “immediately dispatched an anti-robbery squad to the scene and they succeeded in foiling the robbery attempt”.
Eyewitness accounts said that the operation was carried out by a four-member gang.
It was learned that the armed men, on sighting the policemen, began to shoot sporadically as they made an attempt to escape.
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They were said to have abandoned their red-colour Corolla car, with Reg. No: LND 126 HL, and escaped in another car reportedly snatched from an unsuspecting motorist.
The incident caused a serious stampede among residents and traders in the area, including passersby, who “ran helter-skelter” for their lives. At the end of the gun duel between the police and robbery suspects, three persons, including a policeman at the bank, sustained bullet wounds.
The victims were immediately rushed to a nearby Federal Medical Centre for medical attention.
Meanwhile, residents of the capital city, who were jolted by the incident, have appealed to the Governor of the state. Okezie Ikpeazu and Commissioner of Police (CP), Janeth Agbede, to beef up security in the state.
They complained that violent crimes, including armed robbery, kidnapping, and banditry, had become a daily occurrence in different parts of the state.
