[size=20pt]Robbers sack banks in Nnewi, kill seven[/size]

By Okodili Ndidi, Onitsha - 04.06.2009

IN what appeared like scenes in James Bond movies, armed robbers, numbering about nine, Wednesday, in broad daylight, rained terror on banks in the commercial city of Nnewi in Anambra state, leaving seven people dead and 19 others severely wounded.

According to an eyewitness report, the robbers, who arrived the town in a black jeep, were said to have pursued a bullion van that was moving money to one of the new generation banks on Bank Road and when they were beaten by the bullion van driver, the robbers who were heavily armed with machines guns and AK47 riffles, shot their way into the banks that were clustered on the street, killing two policemen and five civilians.

While some of the banks were lucky as the robbers could not gain entry into their vaults, others were not lucky as the robbers carted away huge sums of money.

The robbery incident that lasted for over five hours, according to the source, was the deadliest attack on the business community and forced all the banks to shut down for the day.

A lucky trader who was at the scene of the robbery, told the Nigerian Tribune that the robbers held the entire bank street hostage for several hours, while markets were shut down with traders running in all directions in apparent fear.

Confirming the incident, the Anambra state Commissioner of Police, Amusa Bello, said that one policeman attached to one of the banks was shot dead at the spot and two others were severely wounded and were still in coma, adding that his men stood their ground and aborted the robbery despite the sophisticated weapons used by the robbers.

“My men fought gallantly and what could have been a bloodbath was effectively resisted though we lost some of my best officers, I am still very proud of their gallant display, I have been there with the state governor and among the seven people killed is a legal practitioner who was in one of the banks at the time the robbers attacked. http://www.tribune.com.ng/04062009/news/news7.html