Bullion van attack: Banker, robber killed

A Cash Officer with a new generation bank was killed on Tuesday when gunmen attacked a bullion van conveying money from Aba to Umuahia, while three police personnel escorting the van were injured during an exchange of fire.

The dare-devil robbers, who attacked the bullion van around Ntigha junction of Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, reportedly carted away an undisclosed amount of money before escaping the scene.

One of the robbers was, however, gunned down by a Rapid Response team of police drafted to the scene following a distress call.

Confirming the incident, Abia State Police Public Relations Officer, Geoffrey Ogbonna, said the robbers ambushed the bullion van at the expressway and opened fire on them immediately they approached the junction, adding that the incident happened around 1.13 p.m. at Ntigha junction, near Umuahia.

He said the bullion van conveying cash from a new generation bank in Aba to Umuahia ran into the blockade mounted by the suspected robbers.

The police spokesman stated that the van was being escorted by six mobile policemen attached to 28 PMF Umuahia and Counter-terrorist Unit Base 4, Aba, when the incident happened.

He stated that the robbers opened fire at the bullion van, thus forcing the driver to swerve into the bush.

His words: “Based on a distress call, teams of tactical operatives were dispatched to the scene. At the scene, one Inspector from Counter Terrorist Unit, CTU, Base 4 Aba, was met and he stated that he and five others while escorting a bullion van from Ogukwu Street, Aba to Umuahia ran into a gang of armed robbers who had barricaded the highway and were firing sporadically. 

“Efforts made to stop the bullion van and escort vehicle yielded no dividend as the driver veered into the bush. 

“The Cash Officer accompanying the bullion van was shot dead on the spot, three policemen on the escort sustained bullet injuries while one of the armed robbers was neutralised and his AK-47 rifle with 90 rounds of ammunition was recovered.

He said three of the escort policemen, who sustained gunshot injuries, were immediately rushed to the hospital, adding that the remains of the bank official and the hoodlum had been deposited at a morgue.

The police spokesman explained that an investigation into the incident had commenced.

He appealed to the public and proprietors of medical facilities in and outside Abia to report any person seen or presented with suspected gunshot injuries to the police or any other security agency.

Culled from Vanguard