|
BNW |
|
B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Panic in Kaduna as bandits raid bank
ARMED robbers struck yesterday in Kaduna where they raided a bank and killed a policeman.
The Kaduna metropolis was thrown into pandemonium. Residents and commuters, who heard the rattles of gunshots from the robbers and saw people scampering for safety, misinterpreted the scenario.
In the crisis-scarred minds of the people images were conjured of another impending crisis. The result? A reign of confusion.
The gang of eight or more armed robbers had stormed a bank on Ahmadu Bello in the heart of Kaduna, a witness said.
They reportedly arrived at the bank premises in a Peugeot 607 Saloon car and two other vehicles.
The robbers were said to have immediately mingled with the bank's customers in the banking hall.
Quietly and efficiently they ordered everybody to lie on the floor while brandishing their weapons hitherto concealed under their "kaftans'
A Police Sergeant who attempted to confront them with his weapon was immediately mowed down.
As the sounds of their gunshots filtered outside, people took to their heels.
Motorists slammed their brakes and attempted to make a detour, pedestrians also changed their routes, heading back in the direction they were coming from.
It was confusion galore. Several motorists had their vehicles damaged while trying to manoeuvre their way out of the troubled Ahmadu Bello Way and its neighbourhood. A heavy build up of vehicular traffic ensued.
In the confusion, the general notion was that another crisis had broken. They ran for cover.
Among the robber victims were a former Commissioner of Economic Affairs, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Hausa Service Correspondent, Alhaji Adamu Yusuf, and The Editor of New Nigeria Newspapers (NNN), Malam Mahmond Jega whose wife and two daughters were also at the bank during the unfortunate incident.
The witnesses stated that "the robbers, went straight to the bank officials and held them hostage, ordering them to release all the cash in their possession.
"They took away an unspecified amount of money in "Ghana-must-go" bags and sacks.
"The shot Police Sergeant who was trying to confront the robbers with his gun was shot on the legs, stomach and head. Another customers who was waiting to cash his money was shot on the left hand," witnesses said.
Besides, there were several gun shot holes on the building housing the bank. The robbers also directed their gunshots to another bank building, which had armed policemen on duty. The policemen had tried to confront the robbers.
The BBC Correspondent, Yusuf, while speaking with journalists attributed his safety to God. He claimed that when the robbers started shooting, their weapons were directed in his direction.
"It was like a scene out of an American movie. The robbers came in and started shooting their sophisticated weapons and all other persons in the bank were held hostage," Yusuf recollected.
Meanwhile, the Police Command was still passing around signals across the state yesterday evening in an effort to track down the robbers.
When The Guardian called at the office of the state Police Commissioner, Alhaji Yesuf Mohammed, the Police spokesman Malam Sa'ad Yahaya, told journalists that "the command is doing everything possible to track down the robbers. The exercise, he said, was being co-ordinated by the state police boss.
Yahaya disclosed that robbers had abandoned two of their vehicles while the police had begun a massive man-haunt, especially on the Kaduna-Abuja Road.
The rattles of gun shots fired by the robbers rattled motorists and pedestrians along the busy Ahmadu Bello Way and neighbourhood who thought it was the break of another crisis. They ran for their dear lives.
|
|
||||||||||||
