Police arrest daredevil robbers in Calabar

By Edem Darlington

The Nigerian Police have rounded up a set of armed robbers operating as “one chance” taxi in Calabar.
The robbers, a man and three women, were rounded up along the Murtala Mohammed highway after a chase and exchange of fire.

For about an hour the busy Murtala Mohammed highway within the state capital came to a halt as the police engaged the robbers on a reckless car chase.

The robbers had disposed their victim of a large sum of money around one of the commercial banks along the highway, when the police got wind of it and gave them a hot chase.

The robbers were eventually rounded up around the PDP Secretariat after trying to avoid the usual heavy traffic at the Transcorp hotel.

However, two members of the gang escaped, while two, a man and a woman, were arrested and tortured by angry onlookers, before the police whisked them away.

In the process, a staff of a particular foreign aid agency was mistaken for one of the robbers and was almost mobbed, when some staff of the organization came to her rescue.

Calabar, the Cross River State capital, has recently been a theatre of criminal activities with countless cases of daylight robbery, causing residents to now live in fear.

Last month, a set of dare devil robbers successfully carried out simultaneous attacks in four different locations, Calabar Road, Etta-Agbor, White House and Marian Road, within the state capital.

Residents say security situation in the nation’s tourism destination has recently been very low, with many now living in fear.

Last week, about eight persons were feared killed a result of activities of now dreaded cult group called Scolombo.

“We can no longer rest, no place is safe again, once it is 7p.m. we are on our bed, if not scolombo boys will come after you,” a resident said. “These scolombo boys kill recklessly after robbing you of your belongings, I think it is another level of criminality we have found ourselves, we have never had it this way before’
Hogan Bassey, Police spokesman for the state, said the police are on top of the situation and will make sure the state is rid of miscreants.