Residents, POS operators decry incessant robbery attacks in Owerri
RESIDENTS and business owners, including Point of Sale ( POS) operators near Owerri Police Command, Imo State, have decried incessant armed robbery attacks in the area.
They called on the police to come to their aid and protect them.
Many of the victims, who spoke to The Guardian, expressed surprise over the attacks, despite the nearness of the police command. They lamented an incident that occurred at the weekend, when about five armed men, at about 8: 00 p. m., dispossessed three young girls operating POS machines of all their money. An eyewitness said the robbers alighted from a Toyota Camry, just opposite the police command, dispossessed the victims of their belongings, entered the vehicle and zoomed off.
“After the operation, policemen arrived at the scene and started asking questions. Before then, there had been similar incidents where some shop owners were robbed. Some months ago, a couple who owned a shop built by the police, just behind the command, was killed inside the shop, by some gunmen. The situation has put fear in residents and business operators, forcing them to close between 6: 00 p. m. and 7: 00 p. m.,” he said.
He urged the Commissioner of Police in the state, Aboki Danjuma, to direct officers to secure the area.
According to him, it was ironic to witness such a level of insecurity in a place which boasts of police presence.
One POS operator, Nkechi, lamented: “Many of my colleagues have lost a lot in the hands of armed robbers around here. We came around here to do our business, to be secure and protected by the police. We are witnessing the opposite.