It was a bloody day in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State
capital, southsouth Nigeria, as three persons, including a policeman
were
gunned down during a gun battle between policemen and robbers early
in the morning.
Sources said the five armed robbers
clutching AK47 rifles stormed the Rivers State Newspaper Corporation,
publishers of The Tide Newspapers at Mile One, Diobu, Port Harcourt,
at about 1.12 a.m. holding the staff and at the printing press at
gunpoint for over an hour while demanding for money.
Five
of the staff suffered injuries in the hands of the robbers for their
inability to provide cash for them.They were beaten blue black and
robbed of their personal possessions.
A staff who was a victim of the robbery said: “four
robbers came armed with AK 47 rifles and one of them holding a locally
made pistol demanding for money. When we told them that we didn’t have
money, they became infuriated and started beating us with the butt of
their guns.”
However, policemen from the Divisional
Police Headquarters Mile One, about 500 metres away stormed the scene
and engaged the robbers in a gun battle that felled two of the robbery
suspects.
The General Manager of the Tide Newspapers,
Mr Celestine Ogolo confirmed the attack and stated that five of the
staff on night shift were injured.
He said he got a distress call from his staff about at about 1.12 a.m.
“I
immediately alerted the police through one of the police emergency
numbers.The police quickly swung into action and arrived our
premises.Two of the robbers were gunned down. Unfortunately, one of the
mobile policemen was shot dead in our premises,” he said.
The
Divisional Police Officer in charge of Mile One Police Station, Paddy
Ogon, a Chief Superintendent of Police, confirmed the incident.
Source:PM News
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