Police kill 4 suspected robbers in A/Ibom, arrest 1
The police in Akwa Ibom have gunned down four suspected armed robbers and arrested one other allegedly terrorising Ikot Ekpene LGA in the state and its environs. The Commissioner of Police in the state, Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi, said locally made pistols, ammunitions and the sum of N63,000 were recovered from the robbers who used three motorcycles […]
The police in Akwa Ibom have gunned down four suspected armed robbers and arrested one other allegedly terrorising Ikot Ekpene LGA in the state and its environs.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi, said locally made pistols, ammunitions and the sum of N63,000 were recovered from the robbers who used three motorcycles to dispossess their victims along Aba road by Ikot Osurua.
He said the robbers were the same persons responsible for the robbery at Gulfsafrin fuel station, close to the residence of Senator Godswill Akpabio in Ukana, Ikot Ntuen, Essien Udim Local Government Area.
Ogunjemilusi said the command was poised to sustain its fight against every form of criminality in the state and committed to the protection of lives and property.
He advised motorcycle riders in Ikot Ekpene to fish out the criminals among them spoiling their trade, noting that the curfew on the use of motorcycles after 6pm can only be lifted if the criminal minds among them are exposed.
He said: “On August 23, at about 5pm, five notorious armed robbers, led by Kingsley Peter, aka ‘Morale’ who is the gang leader, using three motorcycles, robbed some persons along Aba road by Ikot Osurua before proceeding to a banking area along the same road to dispossess ATM customers and shops owners.
“My men of Ikot Ekpene division, led by the Divisional Police Officer, SP Benjamin Achegbani, trailed and engaged the hoodlums in a fierce shootout, four of the armed robbers were shot dead while one Akwaowo Daniel Umoren of Ikot Inemme in Essien Udim LGA was arrested with an AK47 and 60 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition.
“Other exhibits recovered were five locally made pistols, eight live cartridges, two rounds of 5.56mm ammunition, one AK47 magazine, three expended cartridges, two masks, six assorted phones, three motorcycles and cash of N63,000, “ he said.
The Divisional Police Officer of Ikot Ekpene, Benjamin Achegbani, said the armed robbers were apprehended through the efforts of an informant who trailed the hoodlums as they robbed from shop to shop in broad daylight.
He said when the police accosted the robbers, they were engaged in a shootout leading to the death of four of them, while he (the DPO) was slightly injured in the encounter.
The arrested suspect, Daniel Umoren, said he was lured into crime by the other members that were killed when his motorcycle was stolen and that they gave him the ammunition he used for the robbery.