Robbers strike at Wuse

Suspected robbers, numbering five, struck last Thursday near a Plaza at Wuse 2 in Abuja.

A police source told City News that the robbers came on a pickup van wearing army uniform, stopping motorists and robbing them.

The source said they were shooting in the air and harassing people before dispossessing them of all their personal belongings.

A victim, who is also a banker with one of the banks at Wuse, told our reporter, that he was on his way to work when he was blocked by the men, thinking they were army officers on stop and search, he stopped and the next thing he saw was AK47 pointed at his head.

“They told me to enter my car and bring everything I had, I told them that the only money I had was the money for my fueling and that was my offence as they started beating me until they discovered that I had no money. That was when they requested for my phones, IPAD and other things. They even took my wrist watch and my shoes,” he said.

A resident of the area told City News that recently there was a robbery near a plaza and that after so many minutes, people who were sympathetic with their ordeals contacted the police, they came thinking that the armed robbers had left but that they ran off after seeing the robbers.

“When they came, they were confident that the robbers had left the scene but as soon as the robbers sighted them, they opened fire and the officers took off,’’ the resident alleged.

A police source told City News that what happened that day was that a distress call was received that there was a robbery incident going on near a plaza at Wuse 2 and that immediately the control room received the call, they moved into action.

The police source refuted the claim that policemen ran off and said, “Our men from Wuse division moved to the scene and met the operation still ongoing , on sighting the police, the armed men opened fire and the police responded and two of the robbers were shot and were confirmed dead in the hospital,” the source claimed.

The police source told our reporter that one of the victims confessed before his death that they were a five-man gang.

The source also added that the robbers earlier went to the Plaza and started harassing shop owners and customers before the arrival of the police, adding that phones collected from the victims were recovered and returned to them immediately.

Reacting, FCT Police spokesperson, Deputy Superintendent Emeka Onya, confirmed the incident but said he would contact the control room for further details.