Police Returns 2million Naira to Robbery Victim

 A 55-year old woman, Mrs. Ekpo-Bassey Itoyo, on Monday got back her stolen N2m from the Cross River State Police Command.

The money was stolen from her by a two-man armed robbery gang last Friday after she withdrew it from a bank along Calabar Road.

The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Osita Ezechukwu, said Itoyo had just come out from an old generation bank and was waiting at a bus stop when the suspects, who rode in a Mercedes Benz 190 car, robbed her.

He said the suspects, Robson Uwem and Godwin Udo, were caught when they drove against a one-way road in a bid to beat the heavy traffic along the road.

Speaking during a press conference in Calabar to mark his 100 days in office, Ezechukwu said, “The gang robbed her as she came out from a branch of Union Bank. They ran out of luck as they got entrapped in the traffic jam.

“Their frantic efforts to leave the gridlock aroused the suspicion of undercover policemen who immediately apprehended them.

“When the vehicle was searched, a ‘Ghana-Must-Go’ bag full of clothes, charms and the sum of N2m was recovered. The suspects took the police to their hideout in Calabar South where six other members of the gang were arrested. Three vehicles were recovered in the operation.”

Itoyo, who later spoke with reporters after the commissioner’s briefing, said she was happy to get back her money.

She said, “I suspect they trailed me to the bank. They just stopped in front of me after I alighted from the car and ordered me to board their vehicle.

“I told them I did not know them and would not board the vehicle. They opened the door of the car and I do not know what they used because I only realised that my bag had been taken. I guess they trailed me to the bank on a tip-off because I had never met any of them.”

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