Robbers attack bullion van with dynamite
By Agency reporter
Published: Thursday, 22 Jan 2009
Armed robbers attacked a bullion van and its accompanying security vehicle at Arungwa junction, on the Port Harcourt-Aba Expressway on Tuesday.

It was a day Governor Theodore Orji was inaugurating development projects in Ikwuano Local Government area and the robbers carted away unspecified amount of money.

The PUNCH learnt that the armed robbers used dynamite to blow up the back of the bullion van, which belonged to a commercial bank.

They carted away the money after allegedly killing all the policemen in the security vehicle and setting their vehicle ablaze.

It was also gathered that the robbers, who first applied bullets to open the bullion van without success, later resorted to the use of dynamite and hand grenade.

The robbery reportedly lasted for over two hours without any interruption, except when the members of the state vigilance team came to the scene and killed one of the armed robbers.

Other members of the gang escaped with their loot, firing sporadically into the air to scare away people around.

When contacted, spokesman for the police in the state, Mr. Alli Okechukwu, requested that he should be given some time to compile report on the incident.