Weekly Trust (Abuja)
Mohammed S. Shehu & Hussain J. Ibrahim
4 August 2007
Kaduna — New tactics, new targets and stronger fire power characterise recent heightening armed robbery incidences across the country.
The week opened with series of gun raids across the country. On Sunday, armed robbers in Lagos laid siege on a bullion van, killed two policemen and fled with unconfirmed sum of money. A day after, another gang of gunmen descended on the Lagos airport bureau de change, killed one, forced safes open and fled with hard currency amounting to millions.
And the robbery campaign went on throughout the week. Armed robbers on Tuesday in Katsina invaded yet another bureau de change. On Thursday, they attacked a bank at Ejigbo area killing three policemen in the process.
It has been like this across the country in the recent past. Series of gun raids, repeatedly reported, continue to plague the country.
Stories of gun-wielding gangs attacking residences, banks, hotels, shops, bureaus de change and commuters inundate the streets around the country. Commuters and motorists are now under perpetual fear of the Nigerian roads while houses and business places are no longer secure from the dreaded armed robbers.
But the police authorities do not believe that banditry is on the rise. Force public relations officer Haz Iwendi told Weekly Trust: "These are normal crimes which are everywhere and are heavily reported. As far as the police service is concerned, the crime rate is not on the increase."
He said some of the attacks cited were isolated and that in other instances, the police were not to blame.
"You talk about bureau de change? How many bureaus de change have been attacked? Do you know how many bureaus de change we have in this country? We have more than 900 bureaus de change in this country. What we have had is two or three cases. We cannot say there have been attacks on them. You also talked about high profile attacks. Is it the one affecting Atiku's lawyer? You heard him on TV blaming the authorities to make sure that when they are repairing road they should not block the road anyhow. That has nothing to do with the police.
"People should know where the problems are and not put the blame on the police. If you block the road and make the road unpassable and there are potholes on the road, this makes it easy for criminals to strike. Is that the fault of the police? Can the police be everywhere? Can the police cover the whole stretch of the country?" Iwendi queried.
Aware of the wave of crime in the country, President Umaru Yar'Adua in his inaugural speech on May 29, assured Nigerians of his resolve to fight crime. "We will move quickly to ensure security of life and property, and make investment safe," Yar'Adua had said.
More than 60 days after this resolve, there appears no end in sight for incidents of armed attacks on private and business places. A day after Yar'Adua's pronouncement, the former chief security officer to Governor Segun Agagu of Ondo State, Tunde Awanebi was killed by a group of gunmen. If anything, armed robbers have become more daring. The mode of their attacks indicates that they no longer fear the security agencies. In addition to raiding police stations, armed robbers waylay cash-conveying police vehicles. It seems also that banks are no longer primary targets, probably because the banks have taken tougher security measures. Now, vulnerable private residences and bureaus de change take the heat.
Even assurances by Inspector General of Police Mike Okiro seem not to be of any effect. The situation has degenerated to the extent that hardly a day passes by without a gory story of robbery attack on innocent people. Few Nigerians in especially urban areas are yet to come face-to-face with armed robbers.
An admission of the rising crime wave came from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Commissioner, John Haruna who said Thursday that the security situation in the FCT has worsened with the increasing cases of broad daylight armed robbery and killings. A total of 203 suspected armed robbers have been arrested in the past one month while 27 suspects were killed in different encounters, the commissioner said.
Disturbed by the rising crime in Abuja, the new FCT minister, Dr Aliyu Modibbo Umar issued a one-week ultimatum for armed robbers to leave the federal capital or face what he called total war.
As the attacks escalate, prominent Nigerians recently came under the wave of robbery incidences. Those affected include Anambra deputy governor Virgy Etiaba, former Kaduna governors Balarabe Musa and Usman Jibril, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar's lawyer Rickey Tarfa among others.
In Etiaba's case, suspected armed robbers attacked her convoy and a shoot out with the police ensued, leaving one of the robbers dead. The two cars in the convoy were damaged. The incident came few days after a similar attack on her convoy.
Tarfa was reportedly shot by a lone gunman riding on a motorcycle. The lawyer, who was on his way home with his wife and children, was injured in the hand.
Earlier on July 28 and 29, former military governor of Kaduna State, retired Group Captain Usman Jibrin was attacked. Jibrin is now receiving treatment at Military Hospital, Kaduna. Reports said Jibrin was shot and wounded when a group of armed men stormed his house to take revenge after a foiled attempt to rob him and his family. In the initial attack on Saturday, one of Jibril's sons shot at and killed one of the robbers. On Sunday, the robbers returned for what they said was "a vengeance mission" for their killed colleague.
A week before the attack on Jibrin, wife of the Taraba State Governor, Hauwa Danbaba Suntai was on Thursday July 19 attacked by suspected armed bandits along the Makurdi-Wukari road. Hauwa survived the attack but sustained gunshot injuries on her right hand. A driver and a mobile policeman in her convoy were killed while her personal assistant sustained injuries. The robbers were about 20 and were armed with sophisticated weapons.
Incidences of crime are not limited to attacks on Nigerians. Foreigners are taking some of the bullets. On July 25, a British professor, Michael Watts was shot and wounded by gunmen in Port Harcourt. The gunmen were operating on a motorcycle. The professor was followed by the gunmen from the bank.
Ex-military personnel have not been spared. A retired colonel was shot dead in Lagos by armed robbers last month. Lawrence Balogun was shot while in his guest house with his wife and two children.
A new mode of operation by the men of the underworld became clear recently. Rather making a go at the bank strong rooms, armed robbers do not want to wait for the money to reach there. They attack bureaus de change and moving bullion vans.
On July 29, a gang of armed robbers attacked a bullion van and killed two policemen in Lagos. The incident occurred in broad daylight sending jitters down the spines of residents as gunshots rent the air.
The robbers were believed to have trailed the van from Ikeja to Oke-Afa, where they intercepted the vehicle by blocking the road, and engaged the police in a shoot out that lasted for about five minutes according to witnesses' accounts.
A day after this, robbers numbering about 25 attacked the Lagos airport bureau de change, wounded a policeman and confiscated his rifle. Another person in the vicinity was also injured by a stray bullet from the robbers.
New trends of armed robbery now include robbers sending warning letters to their prospective victims. One of such victims in Lagos, Malam Ali Hamza told Weekly Trust that "The situation has degenerated to a point whereby they (robbers) even send letters to tell people that they would be coming and inform their victims to invite the police if they wish."
Another mode of operation is by camouflaging in police or military uniforms. Many robbery victims have attested having been robbed by men in uniform. But many people believe that some unscrupulous policemen engage in armed robbery. Two policemen, Isyaku Mohammed and Mathew Yaro were dismissed from police force for robbing a colleague, Ms Patrick Patrick at her home in Angwan Gbagy Village, Nyanya, Abuja.
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