Nigeria Content Online

Angry youth
yesterday staged a mildly violent protest in Ekpoma town following
another robbery attack in the university community.

The armed robbers
attacked a new generation bank, carting away an undisclosed sum of
money and injured no fewer than seven persons. This is coming after
weeks of robbery scare in the administrative headquarters of Esan West
local government area of Edo State.

The gang of seven
armed robbers who came in two cars, a Mercedes Benz saloon and a Honda
car, allegedly stormed the bank, situated few metres from the
divisional police headquarters, destroyed the ATM machines and emptied
out the cash content of both cash machines.

NEXT gathered that
while attempting to escape with their loot, the robbers shot and
injured two bank staff, a cleaner and a security man in the process.
The injured persons were rushed to the nearby Irrua Specialist Teaching
Hospital (ISTH), Irrua.

Five other persons,
including a two-year-old child, also sustained bullet injuries from the
sporadic shooting by the robbers on their way out from the bank. Some
of the bank computers in the bank and other facilities were riddled
with bullets.

However, the police
in Ubiaja, Esan South East local government area, later claimed to have
recovered one of the cars used for the operation. But the angry youth,
mainly motorcycle riders in the town, protested the incessant attacks
on banks, the killing of innocent people by armed robbers, and the
alleged subsequent shooting and injuring of innocent people by the
police.

They made bonfire
with tyres along the popular Royal Market Road, just as they threatened
to burn down the police station. They were, however, dispersed by the
police with tear gas.

One of the
protesters, who did not want his name mentioned in print, said that
they were angered by the failure of the police to respond to distress
calls while the raid lasted. He alleged that sporadic shooting from the
police after the robbers had resulted in the injuries sustained by
several persons.

The chief medical
director of Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, George Akpede,
disclosed that not less than seven victims of the bank raid were rushed
to the hospital, most of whom he said were in critical conditions due
to the severity of the injuries. Some, he said, suffered
intra-abdominal injuries, fractured bones, while others had bullets
lodged in their bodies.

Pathetic incident

Chairman of Esan
West local council, Stella Okoro, who visited the affected bank and the
victims at the hospital, described the incident as pathetic. She,
however, promised that efforts would be made to collaborate with the
security agents to prevent future occurrence, with a promise to assist
the victims with hospital bills.

The council boss,
however, accused the banks of foot dragging on her call for them to
team up to procure armoured personnel carriers to effectively police
the banks.

The commissioner of
police in the state, David Omojola, said the robbery was “a call on the
police to re-order their strategies to prevent future occurrence.”

On the allegation
that his men were responsible for the injuries sustained by most of
those injured, he said “that is not likely to be true because police
will not go out and start shooting at members of the public. We are
always very careful with the use of firearms because we know the
implication.”

He, however,
assured the people of their security despite the incessant robbery,
saying those behind the robbery would be arrested.

Banks in Ekpoma
last month closed shops for several days following an alert that
robbers were billed to carry out an attack in the town.