Armed robber kills Police officer, robs petrol station in Abia

 Sunny Nwankwo, Umuahia

A yet-to-be identified armed man has reportedly robbed a popular Petrol Station located at Bank Road by Good Shed junction in Umuahia, the Abia State capital.

Reports have it that the armed man who came in the company of another member of his gang made away with undisclosed amount of cash and other valuables worth millions.

This is even as Policeman was reported to have been killed by unidentified gunmen that stormed a hotel along Mission Hill, off the heart of the state capital.

According to a source at the filling station, the armed men numbering three came in an ash-coloured Honda, pretending to buy N2000.00 fuel and surrendered them, including the security guards.

The source explained that, with two of them armed with long guns which she could not describe, they led her to the office and collected the sum of more than N70, 000.00, being sales for the day, in addition to the N12, 000.00 in her pocket and phones belonging to her colleagues.

She alleged that despite complying with the robbers, they were thoroughly beaten by the robbers before leaving the petrol station.

Lamenting over the incident, the General Manager of the filling station who chose to speak anonymously, after inspecting the facility disclosed that the incident was the fourth time since this year, stating that they were last robbed in September.

He called on the state government and other security agencies to intensify efforts in ensuring that criminals do not run down their businesses.

Speaking with our reporter, the State Commissioner of Police, Ene Okon confirmed the death of the police officer and the attack on the filling station.

Okon who said that the killer of the police sergeant has been identified as Sampson also hinted that the suspect was the one that equally robbed the Petrol Station.

“The armed robber is called great, but his real name is Sampson. He is an indigene of Ossah in Umuahia North Local Government Area of Abia State. He was recently released from the Afara Prison. He knows that we have fortified Umuahia with security; he comes in around 1am.

“He attacked a Hotel along Mission Hill where he killed a Police Sergeant. He gained access into the hotel after scaling through the fence. The Policeman who was at the gate heard noise inside the building. While he was going to check what the noise was, he met the robber coming out of the building, but never knew that he (Sampson) was an armed robber.

“He was asking the man (Sampson) what was going on in the building, realizing that the Sergeant was a Police Officer, he fired him on the head and ran away, but returned to take an assault rifle that the policeman was having with him.

“He was the same person that robbed the filing Station. He has been using the rifle to carry out his robbery operation. We are on a serious trail of him now.”

–  Nation