Bullion Van Attack: Delta Police Yet To Make Official Statement
Over five hours after alleged gangsters’ unleashed wickedness on a bullion van carrying undisclosed sum of monies to one of the new generation banks (name withheld) in Asaba, the Delta State Police Command is yet to make an official statement on the attack.
A cross section of Deltans have alleged the police of complicity as none of the bandits was killed in the gun duel that ensued between the police attached to the bullion van and the robbers.
A Deltan (name withheld) said “in all my life, I have never heard that there was a cross fire between armed robbers and police and no one was shot dead or even wounded”.
They expressed disappointment over the police, alleging that the attack was an internal arrangement carried out in a brood day light.
It was gathered that the hoodlums attacked the bullion van Friday and engaged policemen escorting the Van in a gun duel, before allegedly diverting the bullion Van.
An eyewitness account stated that the incidence occurred about 12:20pm when the bandits opened fire on the policemen, the bullion van and held the money carrying van to a standstill while the policemen allegedly abandoned the driver and the bullion and took to their heels for safety.
Although, information as to who drove the bullion van into Igbuzo road against traffic was still sketchy, our source noted that the driver was seen outside the bullion van.
“I was there when the incidence happened. It was about 12:20pm before I and others ran for safety. All we were hearing was the gun shots renting the air. I saw someone who looks like the driver outside the van”, our source who pleaded for anonymity said.
It was alleged that before the police could mobilize back to the scene, the hooligans have successfully off-loaded the van of undisclosed sum of monies as sources alleged that the door of the bullion van was seen to have been vandalized.
At press time, our correspondent gathered that the police were able to recover the bullion van from the law-breakers but could not ascertain whether any of them has been arrested.
Calls and text messages sent to the Commissioner of Police in the state, Zanna Ibrahim, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Delta State Police Command, DSP Andrew Aniamaka, to get the true story of the attack were rebuffed.
However, a text message that the PPRO sent to the cellphone of our Bureau Correspondent reads: “Sorry, I have a meeting now”.
The Nigerian Voice had exclusively reported that news filtered into Asaba, the Delta State capital, alleging that robbers numbering over15 laid siege and allegedly hijacked a bullion van carrying billions of naira around the Coca Junction end of Asaba.