On Thursday, 28th March,
2008, there was a bizarre robbery incident in Owerri when in a mid-day bloody
orgy, a platoon of well-armed robbers, stormed the Owerri braches of Zenith
Bank and Intercontinental Bank on the busy and popular Wetheral Road. After
over one hour of internecine strafing, the robbers reportedly went away with
several bags full of cash, killed several people, including four policemen and
pumped so much bullets on the bank buildings that the two bank branches located
close to each other and several surrounding buildings still bear the imprimatur
of that siege with holes pierced by hot bullets. While the operation lasted,
the robbers took control of the operational areas and successfully cordoned it
against road users, beat back the feeble effort of the police to mount a
challenge to that audacious atrocity. Motorists abandoned their vehicles and
ran, people ran helter skelter to avoid being cut in the heavy strafing. In
fact, it was like hell was launched in Owerri that day. Frantic phone calls
were made to friends and relatives to intimate them of the development and warn
them to steer clear of the targeted area. The Radio Nigeria FM station tried to
keep listeners abreast of the sordid happenings and people eagerly waited for
updates on the incident. As expected, the Police, so overwhelmed by the action
of the robbers and its own profound incapacity, has come forward with their
usual, convenient and tepid lie that the robbers did not succeed in looting the
banks but eye witness accounts speak of several sacks of money being emptied
from the two banks.
Many Imo people were aghast that
robbers operated in the city center for hours and after a successful operation,
left unmolested. They fume that no place is sacred for robbers and gun-totting
brutes to trample on and nobody is safe in the state. In effect, and of course
it is being muttered everywhere, the trumpeted clean bill of security health
the state, especially the state capital, has been basking in for years, was a
mere ruse that cannot stand the test of criminal challenge. To many, the state
government’s security outfit, Operation Festival, launched just before
Christmas and which is touted as the reason for the near total absence of hair-raising
criminal incidents for some months in the state, particularly the state
capital, is not working. To many others, as has oft been repeated; the security
situation in the country has come under yet another scrutiny and has failed
woefully.
I was in Owerri the same day and
when the operation started, my friends called to ensure I was out of harm’s way
and for me to avoid coming nearer the siege theater, a very busy area, opposite
the Dan Anyiam Stadium. I tried to monitor events from where I was, which was
not far from the center of action. I heard the unending gunshots and the entire
city was thrown into one huge bedlam as the fiendish operation lasted and
several questions wafted from the eager, fear-struck mouths of the bewildered
citizens who have not witnessed such bizarre experiences in recent times. To
most Imo people, what happened was more than ordinary robbery and must have
transcended the urge to snatch some cash and embark on a celebration spree. It
was war, declared and levied by hounds that have both pecuniary and susceptible
political interests and we shall come to these as the circumstances behind that
brazen incident unfold with the coming days.
Till now, the issue is still the
hottest news in town. Taxi drivers, commercial motorcycle operators, popularly
called okada, passers by and people in their respective homes, still discuss
that incident just because Owerri has cut a peaceful note of late and since the
state government made the issue of security a topical issue, it has made much
capital from the fact that for several months now, there has not been any major
earth-shaking incident of armed robbery in Owerri. The blame game is on and
this is a right approach the people employ to explain the successful conduct of
the operation. As is apt, the police and other security outfits are the targets
of Imo people for their shoddy response to the challenge thrown by armed goons
in broad daylight. The state police led by Mr. Donald Iroham has been very loud
in flaunting this testimonial and while people appreciated his dexterity, they
have still pointed out that in recent times, the Imo hinterlands have come
under persistent pressure from armed robbers who seem to be in a hurry to
recoup lost grounds after the general bliss that attended the celebration of
the holidays in Imo State.
Before the robbery incident of March
27th, there have been some foiled attempts by armed robbers to stage
the kind of deadly show they enacted that day. There was one incident where the
police intercepted armed robbers that targeted the branch of Union Bank in Aboh
Mbaise while they were on the way to their target and prevented from carrying
out their mission. The state police commissioner talks of foiling what would
have been the biggest robbery heist in the history of the country but the
details are not so clear to me. But what one knows is that bank robberies are
not too popular in Owerri. In fact, the March 27th incident was the
first incident of successful bank robbery since May 2007, when Governor Ohakim
came with his heightened emphasis on the security of lives and properties in
Imo State. Indeed, it was the first successful high-profile bank robbery
incident in three years after the midnight invasion of the Wetheral Road branch
of UBA (then Standard Trust Bank). Before the recent incident, it was nearly
taken for granted that bank robbers would not successfully carry out a
successful operation in Owerri and the government and the people have not been
modest about this. Perhaps, it was in a bid to puncture this fact that the
shocking incident was carried it, which is why we have to look beyond armed
robbery to see if there were political statements the incident was intended to
sound. And here, we have to consider so many factors. First, the Governor cried
out that he was being targeted for elimination and then, the hoax about his
arrest and prosecution by London police for money laundering was generously
planted in the media by God-knows-who and when he had barely weathered this,
the robbery incident happened.
I know many would wonder why I raise
so much fuss about a mere robbery incident in a country where no day passes
without such incidents, some even more deadly and more brazen, happening. But,
as I stated earlier, this incident was the first since Ohakim came on board and
he has been sounding so confident that with the security arrangement he had put
in place, such similar event was not possible in Owerri. Then, the manner of
the operation gives out some suspicion that it was not an ordinary robbery
incident. This was an operation where, as those that witnessed the operation
reported that only machine guns were used in the operation as there was a
non-stop shooting spree, often fired erratically and without precision, during
the long period of the operation. In fact, the hounds seemed to have a
limitless cache of arms. The robbery zone looks very much like a war scene as
the surrounding buildings were riddled with bullet holes. In short, the robbery
incident was the most deadly incident in Owerri in recent times. From all
possible indications, there was a veiled message contained in the entire
incident and this far outweighs the implications of a routine robbery act. Most
people in Imo State fear that there is a political implication to ridicule the
security arrangement in the state and present a picture of a government that is
loosing grip of the state. I bet that the truth here would be reified in the
coming days.
But I hope the state government is
not loosing sight of the central issue, which is that it has to work more to
firm up the security arrangement in the state. The Ohakim government, which has
so far, made tremendous investment in the security sector must see this to
reposition the existing security outfits and prepare them for such incidents as
the one that happened on March 27th. I hear that the state
government has summoned an emergency security meeting to rise to the challenges
thrown by the robbers and ensure such brazen display never gets re-enacted in
the state. This is commendable and should be supported by Imo people that neigh
for peace to carry out their respective activities. Knowing the seriousness
with which the present government reacts to similar incidents and challenges,
there is little doubt that the people of Imo would be spared the kind of
harrowing experience they had on March 28th. This equally demands a
symbiotic interface between the state government and Imo people so that nothing
will happen to ensure such horrifying incident is repeated.
Peter Claver Oparah.
Ikeja, Lagos.
E-mail: peterclaver2000@yahoo.com
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