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Robbers hold Edo
hostage
By Benson
Agwu
Correspondent (Benin
City)
and Uche
Nwosu
Special
Correspondent (Umuahia)
Rampaging armed robbery
syndicates that have made life unbearable for residents of Edo State have
resorted to new tactics in their operations. They held major streets in
Benin City hostage on Tuesday and Wednesday and chased away policemen from
their duty posts.
The criminals killed people in
the most strategic points, which prompted the closure of the two
Government House access gates and that of the police command. Banks
shut their gates to forestall
attacks.
The robbers, in different
gangs, attacked Orihionmwon Council Chairman Saturday Idehen on Ihama
Road, near the state legislative quarters clinic.
He narrowly escaped death but
has a bullet wound on his thigh.
Anglican Bishop Peter Imaseun
was shot during an incident at another location. A source disclosed that
he is critically ill in hospital.
A police inspector was shot
dead on Upper Sakpoba Road after receiving several bullets in the
chest.
A commercial motor cyclist,
who claimed that the inspector was his passenger, said they were chased
from a distance. Before he was killed, the robbers said they would not
stop until they had murdered 200 policemen.
The onslaught has continued
consecutively for three days. The robbers on Tuesday chased away police
officers at the Idogbo police station.
On Wednesday, commercial
activities on Forestry, Dawnson Akpakpavah and Ezorti Streets were
grounded by different gangs of gunmen who attacked posh cars, mostly those
of government functionaries.
Commuter buses and government
vehicles on Ezorti Street and Igbinedion Avenue were chased to the
Nigerian Union of Journalists secretariat building on Reservation Road,
where they drove for refuge.
Four persons were reportedly
killed on the Airport Road, Mission Road, Sapele Road and Ring Road
areas.
According to observers, the
seeming re-enactment of the notorious Anini-Iyamu saga in Edo State could
be the result of a betrayal of trust between the gangsters and the
police.
It may also be connected with
the parade of four terror gangs, including two policemen, who reportedly
issued their civilian counterparts police identity cards with which the
quartet have been raiding people.
The palpable tension has
become so noticeable in the state that residents now make phone calls to
their relatives outside Benin City not to come home this yuletide, even as
Inspector General of Police (IG) Tafa Balogun has offered N500,000 to
anyone who offers useful
information on the hideouts of the criminals.
It was the same heightened
tension resulting from incessant killings of policemen that led to the
take over of operations by Deputy IG S. Abdulkadir. But that has not
helped matters, instead armed robbers shifted operations to daylight.
Police Public Relations
Officer Fatai Kinyomi said: �Armed robbers are on the rampage everywhere
in the state capital and beyond and we are doing everything possible to
stem their operations. I cannot comment on anything now. Please, I am on
patrol as I respond to your call right now�.
Although police sources failed
to confirm the number of death so far, it was learnt that more than 10
persons have been killed.
A statement issued by the
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Lucky Wasa, expressed concern over
the upsurge, but stressed that the government is working closely with law
enforcement agents to find a solution to the
problem.
In a related development in
Abia State, Umuahia North Council Chairman Sam Ekeledo escaped death on Tuesday when a
gang of armed men ambushed him at the council
headquarters.
He is said to be having a
running battle with one of the top officials of the council over some
official dealings.
It was not immediately known
who was behind the attack but three suspects were overpowered by members
of the Civil Defence Corps attached to the council and handed over to the
police.
Ekeledo accused the official
(names withheld) of �being behind the attack� and insisted that he has
been a clog in the wheel of progress of his administration since he was
posted to the council in September.
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