By Chinenye Ozor, Nsukka

Penultimate Friday, residents of the University town of Nsukka were thrown into panic following shootings by a vicious gang of armed robbers who waylaid a bullion van on it’s way to deposit money in one of the banks inside the town.

The daredevils attacked the bullion van at Fen park junction of Enugu road, Nsukka town at about 10.45am. The armed men numbering about 10 reportedly trailed the bullion van and the police escort vehicle from Opi-Nsukka road but on getting to the Fen park junction, they double-crossed the escort vehicle and engaged the policemen in a shootout.

The policemen were unfortunately overpowered as two of them were shot dead leaving another with a severe bullet wound.

The robbers then ordered the bullion van driver to drive ahead of their own Toyota Sienna space wagon towards Queens College Nsukka. While escaping, the hoodlums released sporadic shots to scare away people. Their indiscriminate shots hit another policeman and two other persons including two occupants of a Hilux van belonging to Julius Berger Nigeria Limited.

The armed men succeeded in taking the bullion van and its driver away but on getting to Queens College, they brought out a gas cylinder and a wielding machine with which they ripped open the roof of the van and transferred the bags of money into the Sienna and drove away.

Fortunately, anti-robbery policemen from both Enugu and Ebonyi States who pursued them succeeded in killing five of the robbers. They also recovered N62million out of the N68million they snatched from the bullion van.

•The suspects

Seven members of the gang who reportedly fled into the bus with N6million were later trailed and two of them were arrested. The two suspects were paraded at the divisional police urban station Nsukka.

The robbers who spoke to Crime Alert identified themselves as Attama Peter from Okpo Enugu Ezike. Igbo Eze North local government and Omeje Chijioke from Alor Agu Igbo Eze South local government both in Enugu State.

They confirmed their involvement in the July 23rd, 2011 robbery incident, alleging that they did not take active part in the robbery but were aware of the robbery operation on that fateful day.

Attama Peter who said he is an automobile electrician said he leaves in the same yard with one of the robbers now at large, unknown to him that he is an armed robber and have threatened to kill him if he reveals his identity to any person, particularly after the first bank plc bullion van robbery.

Peter further said that he drives the said armed robber around the town with his motorcycle adding that barely three days after robbing first bank bullion van and killing two police inspectors, the same gang went and robbed Remcollins investment ltd in Nsukka of about N250, 000.00 from where luck ran out of them as they forget a plate number of the motorcycle used for the operation and some live cartridges in a black polythene bag and fled.

A competent senior police officer at the station who confirmed exploits of the notorious armed robbers told Crime Alert that Attama Peter and Omeje Chijioke have been in their list of wanted robbers in connection with the first bank bullion van robbery that killed two of their men.

The two had earlier been mentioned by their gang already in police custody after the operation, said the police source.

The senior police officer also said that the police had earlier picked a NECO examination slip identification with passport photograph belonging to Omeje Chijioke at their hide out in an uncompleted building near Queen of the Rosary College, Nsukka, averring that the two items recovered by the police, NECO exam slip and the plate number led to the arrest of the robbers terrorizing the university town of Nsukka.

The police officer further disclosed that Peter Attama uses his motorcycle that was also stolen to feed his gang of the latest information as he disguises as a commercial motorcycle operator (Okada) parading the entire town.

Two more of the robbers whose identity could not be disclosed for security reasons are still at large as at the time of filling this report. It could be recalled that Enugu State Police Command had earlier paraded two of the robbers at Nsukka whose names were given simply as Ofordile Cyril and Richard Bade who hails from Ogni, River state.

However, reports revealed that one of the first bank staff in Nsukka was identified by the robbers as the person who disclosed movement chart of the bullion van and allegedly gave the robbers N15, 000 for feeding while waiting for the operation.

The divisional police officer, Nsukka, Jacob Muri said that investigation continues till the others at large are fished out. He appealed to the general public to assist the police by giving useful information and also report any person or group of persons whose movement is suspicious to the police.