I must finish my suya, says policeman called to stop robbery

Emmanuel Ifeanyi, Aba

Residents of Okwu na Uka Streets and Hospital Road, off Aba Area Command have accused a policeman called during a robbery operation, of refusing to heed the call.

According to the residents, the daring robbers stormed a warehouse located in front of Aba Area Police Command and carted away huge sums of money.

They disclosed that one of the policemen, well known to them, was called during the robbery operation, but the officer allegedly insisted that he would only respond after he must have finished his suya.

The warehouse, which was attacked, is where tricycles are being sold. The workers, who were attacked by the robbers, sustained injuries.

It was gathered that the robbers, five in number, invaded a warehouse, with a fence separating it from the police command. The robbers attacked at about 5pm, without allegedly being challenged by policemen, who were on duty.

An eyewitness, who identified himself as Kingsley, told our correspondent that the policemen were called several times, but allegedly refused to respond.

He said: "I was in my own shop when the robbers came; one of my neighbours escaped through a back door to call some policemen at Aba Area Command and Central Police Station, but to our shock, they refused to come. The robbers came in two tricycles armed with guns and other weapons. They robbed all workers in the warehouse within minutes. This happened just opposite the biggest police station in Aba. The worst is that one of the policemen, who we know very well, was called, but he insisted that he must first finish eating his suya.”

A victim, who sustained injury, said: “The robbers used heavy hammer to hit me on my shoulder. As you can see, I can't even move my hands. They went away with huge amount of money."

When contacted, the Area Commander in charge of Aba Police Command, Mr. Peter Opara, confirmed the robbery, insisting that the police were not called.

Opara said that those affected were yet to even make an official report as they kept giving excuses that their employees were not around.

He added: “ They are yet to make formal report. An operation like this, is likely to be an in-house job. They may be trying to frustrate investigation. How can people, who are robbed refuse to make official report even after the robbery? It’s funny. We learnt that the robbers pushed people inside to rob them. None of those who witnessed from far tried to reach police. We have spread our emergency number, yet nobody called it."