Follow Us on Google
From: Ben Dunno, Warri
There was a reign of terror in the hands of dare-devil robbers, on Wednesday, in Warri area of Delta State, as a mobile police Sergeant, on escort duty, was shot dead and his rifle alongside cash sum of N450,000, withdrew from the bank, were carted away.
The incident which occurred along the popular Link Road close to Ajamimogha in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta state threw the entire area into a state of pandemonium as the armed robbers who had trailed after their victims from bank were on rampage shooting sporadically into the air while the operation lasted.
A police source, who spoke with Daily Sun on the incident, disclosed that the deceased Mobile policeman from the Rivers State Police Command, was one of the security details attached to a Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), in Port Harcourt, who had paid an official visit to Warri area.
It was learnt that the top NDDC management staff had gone to one of the old generation banks, in Warri, to make a cash withdrawal of N450,000 when he was trailed by the robbers in a Toyota Corolla car until accosted at the Link Road junction where the operation was carried out.
Residents of the area were reported to have scampered for safety as the robbers, numbering about five, threw caution into the wind as they shot sporadically into the air to scare people away in order to have ample time to execute their mission.
A resident, Mrs. Josephine Oritsebubemi, recounted how she and her grandchildren, who had come to stay with her to celebrate Christmas and the New Year, had to take cover inside her apartment along the major road close to scene of the incident as the shootings seems so close and frightening.
According to her, “It was about 2; 45pm when we started hearing the sporadic gun shooting. First, we thought it was from one of the security operatives but when he heard people running everywhere for safety that it dawned on us they were armed robbers so we can to take cover under the bed to avoid stray bullets”.
Mr. Philip Uzordimma, an electrical shop owner close to Link Road junction narrated how he abandoned his shop and took to his heels to take refuge in a residential apartment behind his shop to avoid being a victim of the robbery incident.
“It was a spur of the moment decision when the shooting became tensed. When you see people running up and down looking for safe places to hid, you do not need to be told to run for your dear life too. I had to move out fast and ask my boy who was with me to equally find his way out of the area to avoid incurring the wrath of the robbers who appears desperate”, he stated.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Delta state Command, DSP Andrew Aniamaka, confirmed the incident when contacted on phone by Our Correspondent.
He however pleaded to keep the name of the police sergeant for now to enable the Rivers state police Command inform the deceased family of his demise rather than to be informed on the pages of newspapers.
