Soldiers on patrol duty on Friday foiled the operations
of a seven man armed robbery gang, killing the gang leader while six escaped,
and two others killed by stray bullets.
The leader of the gang had pointed a gun at the target, a
female victim at Swali market demanding she surrender cash and other valuables
on her without knowing that an army patrol vehicle was near the scene.
A trader who witnessed the incident said that the army
patrol team used a Toyota Siena vehicle from where they observed the robbery
scene and shot the armed robber at the verge of dispossessing his victim from
behind.
According to the witness who gave her name simply as
Grace, the armed robber shot in the air to scare the victim into submission
before he was gunned down by the patrol while other members of the robbery gang
fled.
Grace said that the fleeing robbery gang members shot at
the patrol team but their stray bullets hit and killed two people, a cart
pusher and a nursing mother.
Reacting to the incident, Spokesman of the 16 Brigade of
Nigerian Army Yenagoa, Major Jonah Danjuma said that troops on patrol came
under attack by the armed gang.
“Troops of 16 Brigade Brigade Nigerian Army on
routine patrol were attacked today at Swali market area in Yenagoa metropolis
by gunmen, on the 22nd February 2019.
“The gunmen numbering
about seven opened fire on our troops. One of the bandits attempted to snatch a
riffle of one of the soldiers. In the process he was neutralized while others
took to their heels.
“Efforts are on
to track them,” Danjuma said.
Danjuma said that that
the criminals have been robbing people around Swali market for some time now
until luck ran out of them when troops closed in on them while in the act
and recovered arms and ammunition:
Danjuma listed its
recovered from the gang include. One locally made pistol., two locally made 9mm
ammunition, one Itel mobile phone and, the sum of eight thousand three hundred
and fifty naira only. (N8,350)
The 16 Brigade Spokesman
reassured the people of Bayelsa and environs of the safety of their lives and
property and advised criminals in possession of arms to turn them in to
security agencies or be ready to face the the law.
.
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