A staff of a new generation bank was killed when high-way robbers attached their billion van conveying money from Aba to Umuahia.
The dare-devil robbers were said to have carted away undisclosed sum of cash from the bullion van before escaping the scene.
The incident occurred Tuesday around Ntigha junction of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway.
One of the robbers was, however, gunned down by a rapid response team of police drafted to the scene following a distress call.
Confirming the incident, the Abia State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Geoffrey Ogbonna, said the robbers ambushed the bullion van at the expressway and opened fire at them immediately after they approached the junction.
He explained that the robbers shot dead the Cash Officer of the bank accompanying the billion van as he attempted to escape for dear life.
According to the PPRO, three police personnel escorting to the van were injured during the exchange of fire, and have been taken to the hospital.
Ogbonna said that an AK47 rifle with three loaded magazines strapped together was recovered from the robbers who fled as one of them was neutralized.
His words: “Based on a distress call, teams of tactical operatives were dispatched to the scene. At the scene, one Inspector from the Counter Terrorist Unit, CTU, base 4 Aba, was met and he stated that he along with five others while escorting a bullion van from Ogukwu streets Aba to Umuahia ran into a gang of armed robbers who had barricaded the high way and were firing sporadically.
“Efforts made to stop the bullion van and escort vehicle yielded no dividend as the driver veered into the bush.
“The Cash Officer accompanying the bullion van was shot dead on the spot, three policemen on escort sustained bullet injuries while one of the armed robbers was neutralized and his AK 47, rifle with 90 rounds of ammunition was recovered.
“The injured policemen were rushed to the hospital while the deceased, are deposited in the morgue for preservation. An investigation has commenced.”
The PPRO urged members of the public to volunteer information to the police about anyone with bullet wounds around their vicinity.
Ogbonna also appealed to hospitals in the state to report patient in their facilities with bullet wounds for interrogation and investigation.
