Thread: 50 robbers bomb bullion van, 2 die

Biola Azeez, Umuahia - 22.01.2009

ARMED robbers attacked a bullion van and its accompanying security vehicle at Arungwa junction, on the Port Harcourt-Aba expressway, three kilometres from Aba, ( on a day Governor Theodore Orji was busy inaugurating projects in Ikwuano Local Government Area), carting away unspecified amount of money.

Nigerian Tribune investigations revealed that the armed robbers used dynamite to cut open the back of the bullion van belonging to a commercial bank, to get access to the money while all the policemen in the security vehicle were killed and set ablaze inside the vehicle.

It was also gathered that the robbers, who first used gunshots in an attempt to open the bullion van without success, later resorted to the use of dynamite and hand grenade to blast the back of the van.

The robbery operation reportedly lasted for over two hours without any interruption. Members of the state vigilance team later intervened, killing one of the armed robbers, while the rest escaped with their loot.

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune on the development, the Police Public Relations Officer, (PPRO), Alli Okechukwu, requested that he should be given some time to compile a report on the incident.

However, when Okechukwu spoke with the Nigerian Tribune on Wednesday, he said the armed robbers, numbering 50 and dressed in military and police uniforms, with bulletproof vests, killed only one policeman and the driver of the bullion van.

He said that the command was still looking for some of the policemen who went on the operation at the time of filing this report.

The PPRO said the armed robbers fired sporadically into the air to stop the bankʼs convoy on the expressway and held it for over 30 minutes.

He said the police reinforced with Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC), which he said the armed robbers demobilised with the use of dynamite, executed with precision.

Okechukwu said the police command later on Tuesday despatched its men with five patrol vans, together with members of the state vigilance team, to a village in Abala in the Obingwa Local Government Area of the state when it got information that the same gang of armed robbers was busy sharing their loot there.

He said the armed robbers, who had already laid ambush for the policemen before their arrival in the village, set all the five patrol vehicles ablaze with the help of the villagers.

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