A team of anti-robbery police squad from the Abia State Police Command has prevented an 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 Newsmen.
Ogbonna confirmed that the command received 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 gathered that the armed men, started to, shoot sporadically when they saw the police and also made an attempt to escape.
I was said that they abandoned their red-colour Corolla car, with Reg. No: LND 126 HL, and escaped in another car which was snatched from an unsuspecting motorist.
The incident caused a serious stampede and among residents and traders in the area, including passersby, who “ran helter-skelter” for their lives.
At the end of the gun shoots between the police and robbery suspects, three persons, including a policeman at the bank, sustained bullet wounds.
The victims were rushed to a nearby Federal Medical Centre for medical attention.
Meanwhile, residents of the capital city, who were jolted by the incident, have pleaded with the Governor of the state. Okezie Ikpeazu and Commissioner of Police (CP), Janeth Agbede, to beef up security in the state.
They lamented that violent crimes, including armed robbery, kidnapping, and banditry, had become a daily occurrence in different parts of the state.