No fewer than three out of four fleeing armed robbers were arrested by the police on Tuesday after they rammed into traders who displayed their goods and merchandise for the day’s business at the Bishop Okoye Street axis of Mile 3 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
According to reports, the police chased the suspected robbers who drove in a Sienna car along Bishop Okoye Street in Mile 3, Diobu, causing residents to scamper for safety.
Speaking on the incident, the spokesperson of the State Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, said operatives arrested three of the miscreants who tried to escape from a crime scene.
Iringe-Koko, who disclosed this to newsmen, said the suspects were arrested by operatives of the Olu Obasanjo Division, saying men were on the trail of one of the suspects who escaped.
She stated, “Yes, they were arrested by men of the Olu Obasanjo police station in conjunction with the Nkpolu Police Division. They (the suspects) are in our custody. An investigation is ongoing.”
Meanwhile, other market vendors reported that their goods had been destroyed and some had been injured as the bandits attempted to meander their way out of sight of the law.
One of the traders, just named Rachael, informed our reporter that they were in the market when they noticed a Sienna with four people holding pistols and peering out the windows.
He stated that there was chaos as the armed men sped towards Bishop Okoye Street, saying, “We ran, and out of fear, some of us were injured.
“When we came back, these armed robbers running from the policemen destroyed our goods—periwinkle, melon, okasi, and many other things.
“Let the government come and help us for what we have lost. We don’t know who will pay for these things now. But thank God they were arrested.”