Steve Uzoechi, Owerri and Emeka Okeke
One of the bank robberies in Nigeria, which people
will not forget in a hurry occurred on February 22, 2017, at Zenith Bank, Wetheral
Road branch, Owerri, Imo State.
The robbery, which left Nigerians stunned,
was like a scene straight out of a Hollywood Movie. The robbery left two
policemen dead, and another critically injured. There was another third corpse;
it was one of the armed robbers.
According to eyewitnesses, the robbers
stormed the bank in a car and made a beeline for their target. They dispossessed
the victim of a bag, filled with money.
In order to scare people and make their
operation smooth and swift, religiously keeping to the operational time, the robbers
shot sporadically into the air. The antic worked as Zenith bank customers and passersby
scampered for safety.
The gunshots also alerted policemen at the
bank that men of the underworld have decided to pay the bank a visit.
There was a gun duel between the policemen
and robbers and by the time the dust raised settled, three corpses were on the
ground and a four person, with a bloodied eye, was groaning in pains. It was discovered that two policemen had been
killed, while a third sustained gunshot injury to an eye. One of the robbers
was also mowed down.
A policeman, who lived to tell the story,
said that he escaped death by the whiskers. According to him, he left the security
post and went to the back of the bank building just minutes before the bandits
stormed the bank and started shooting like they were in a Wild West movie set.
One of the slain policemen, Sergeant Chukwudi
Iboko and his colleague, Sunday Agbor, were the two policemen killed, while Otu
Itan, another policeman, got injured in the eye.
After the death of these gallant policemen, life had
gone back to normal. Zenith bank resumed its commercial activities, while the
Nigerian Police Force deployed new policemen to the bank.
But the vacuums left by the death of these policemen
are still felt by their grieving and bereft family members, especially their
wives, children and parents.
The wives and children were shaken out of their grieves
after a video, captured by the bank’s CCTV, showing how the gallant policemen
battled the robbers and killed, infiltrated the social media. The video came
into the public scene four months after the bank robbery.
While the video made Nigerians to recognize the gallantry
of the policemen, who sacrificed their lives, trying to protect the bank, it also
reopened old wounds in the hearts of their widows.
The video triggered media frenzy, especially when it
was discovered that the Nigerian Police and Zenith bank, allegedly abandoned
the widows and children to their fates. Outraged Nigerians demanded for what
was right to be given and done for their children.
Many promises were made by many concerned Nigerians,
government parastatals and non-governmental organisations; but whether these
promises were kept or just a spin to shut up the media is, what most people
really don’t know.
The need to know the situation with the widows and
whether the promised made were fulfilled, led the New Telegraph Newspaper
correspondent to go hunting for the widows and their children.
Mrs Blessing Agbo is the widow of Sergeant Sunday
Agbo, former member of Mopol 18. Blessing said that sometimes ago, she had
cried out over her neglect and abandonment by everyone.
Blessing, who spoke to New Telegraph about her
sufferings, pleaded with the police management team and other groups that were
concerned with the ugly incident to assist her by redeeming their pledges and
assurances.
She begged the police establishment to act quickly
and pay her Agbo’s entitlement without delay, so that she could be able to take
care of their six children.
Blessing, who spoke against the backdrop of the
compensations and assistances that were promised her by various groups,
including the Police management since her husband's death, disclosed that so
far, she had filled and submitted to the Police all the necessary forms
required for the payment of her husband's entitlement as was the norm for
policemen that died on active duty.
She said: “For the Police, I want them to pay me the
entitlements of my husband. I have filled all the forms and as of now, I’m finding
it really tough to take care of my children and meet their educational needs. My
husband served with Mopol 18.”
She disclosed that while the Police have started
processing her husband's entitlement, one of the organisations, which promised assistance,
recently sent one Chiedu from Owerri to her.
Chiedu, who visited her at Nnewi, rented a shop for
her in Umudim with an annual rental value of N96, 000. She explained that it
was this shop that uses now for petty trading. Chiedu equipped the shop with a
small fridge and a few provisions. He refused to tell her the person or organization
that the donations were from.
She said: “So far, the assistance I have received is
very minimal and inadequate for the upkeep of my children.”
Shedding light on the extent she was compensated by
the organization that sent Chiedu to Nnewi to see her, Blessing said: "They
paid N 96,000 for the shop at Umudim Street, for one year, at the price of N8,
000 per month.”
Recollecting the advent of Chinedu in her life,
Blessing said: “He just called me from Owerri and said that he was coming to
see me at Nnewi. He came and saw me; his name is Chinedu. He came and the
following day, he came with the fridge and a few provisions. As I’m speaking
with you right now, I have not seen or heard again from him. I’m begging them
and praying to God, to let them come and help me. The only cash I had received
since my husband died was N10, 000. That money was given to me after the
incident.”
Blessing, who said that she has six children to
cater for, further disclosed that she now travels to local markets in Nnewi and
nearby towns to purchase fruits and vegetables. She sells these items to
customers at Umudim, Nnewi.
Blessing’s story is not too different from that of
Mrs Rose Iboko, widow of Sergeant Chukwudi Iboko. After weeks of tracking and
hunting, our correspondent finally located Rose.
The woman said that she was finding it increasingly challenging
to make ends meet since the death of her husband. Rose said that the death of
her husband hit the family like a mighty storm.
Rose noted that in spite of the outpouring of
emotions and aids received from a few persons and groups for which she was
thankful; she was still struggling to put food on the table for her children.
She noted that she was yet to hear anything from many
persons and groups that made promises to her family particularly the Niger
Delta Development Commission (NDDC). The NDDC had promised scholarship to all
her children to tertiary level, but she had not heard from them.
She said: "They promised to give scholarship to
all my children to the university level. They also promised to take care of my
children and help them achieve their aspirations, the way their late father
would have desired if he was alive.”
Rose was thankful to the Nigerian Police, Zenith
bank and particularly, a certain Catholic Priest whose name she couldn’t
remember in rendering her assistance in the time of great need.
Recalling the Catholic Priest, she said that the man
asked for her account number in Lagos and by the time she reached home at East,
he had already paid some money into her account.
She said: “In spite of all these, it has not been
easy for me and my seven children. My husband was building a house and did not
complete it before he died. If we abandon it, it may collapse, so all the
financial assistance I received from individuals and groups were ploughed into
the house. The idea is to at least have a roof over our heads. Even at that,
the building is yet to be completed.”
She continued: “My first son is due to write his WAEC
and the responsibility now falls on me. What I do is just petty trading to support
my family. I sell groundnuts and sausage rolls to make ends meet.”
The widow, who said they are from Bende Local Government
Area in Abia State, but lives in Ihitte Uboma LGA of Imo State, noted that her
marriage to late Chukwudi Iboko was blessed with six boys and a girl.
She said: “While I still beg for help, I do not take
for granted that a number of people reached out to us in our hour of distress.
I do not know their names, but there is no time I pray, I do not include them
in my prayers. I also pray that they do not forget my children and I. May they
not allow us to die of hunger and poverty.”
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