Armed robbers on Tuesday, blew up a United Bank for Africa branch in Issele Uku, Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State
The dare-devil robbers are reported to have spread themselves out in strategic locations in and around the bank premises to have a field day.
They blew up the building and vaults with dynamites and spent over one hour ransacking every office, vaults and drawers and took away millions of Naira in cash.
They are also reported to have killed one person during the operation and destroyed much of the bank building and interior set up.
An eyewitness said the deceased was hit by a stray bullet while many innocent members of the public sustained injuries.
Speaking further, the eyewitness said that “The armed robbers came well prepared. It was like an American action movie. The robbers had sophisticated weapons.
“Sounds of gunshots rented the entire village while the operation lasted. There was panic everywhere and the police were nowhere to be found. As they were shooting, stray bullets hit someone and she died immediately and others had bullet wounds.
“Our hopes were dashed as we were counting on the police in the town. As this was going on, we heard the Divisional Police Officer and his men had gone into hiding somewhere else.
“We heard that the robbers earlier visited the police station and were searching for th DPO and his men but the police who got wind of their presence quickly took cover. The destruction at the bank was massive.
“If I’m not mistaking, three years ago, the same bank was attacked and robbed and some millions of Naira were stolen.
“So many people, especially customers were left with serious wounds. When today’s robber incident was going on, so many of us were calling lines made available to reach out to the public to reach out to the security outfit code named operation Delta Hawk that was inaugurated by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa last year, but unfortunately they never showed up till the robbers left the community.
In his reaction, the acting spokesperson of the Police Command, DSP Bright Edafe said that, “The command is already on top of the situation. Our men are presently in the bush trailing some of the gang members who ran into the bush. For now, we don’t have the accurate number of casualties.”