Army recover locally made pistol in a foiled armed robbery operation

Soldiers attached to the 144 Battalion; Ukwa West, under 14Brigade army headquarters, Ohafia, Abia State have reportedly recovered a locally made pistol, after foiling robbery operation at Milverton (a popular road housing various transport companies) in Aba South Local Government Area of Abia State.

Milverton has not only remained one of the notorious flash spots in Aba, where all forms of hard drugs are being sold and consumed in the open despite several raids operation by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and other security agencies, it has reportedly being described as a ground for breeding criminals and where several criminal activities within Aba and its environs were being hatched.

Information has it that the soldiers who arrived Milverton at about 10pm in two hilux vans were on a routine patrol within the Aba North and South local government area when they got a distress call that armed robbers were operating in the area.

It was learnt that the armed robbers on sighting men of the Nigerian Army fired shots into the air while escaping from the scene, but the soldiers were said to have fired back.

Our reporter, who learnt that the situation caused people to scamper for safety, also found out that some passersby were hit by stray bullets while the soldiers chase after the hoodlums.

Some of the victims whose identities were yet to known at the time of filing this report were said to be receiving medical attention in different private clinics, including a private hospital located at Azikiwe off East.

Another version of the report has it that two men among the injured persons sustained serious life threatening gun wounds in their separate thighs and near the scrotum region.

The injured persons as gathered were rushed to a popular hospital along Azikiwe Road by East Street by a team of police officers from the Aba Central Police Station who arrived at the scene of the accident some minutes after the shooting.

An eyewitness told our reporter that the soldiers who were chasing some unknown persons before firing the fleeing persons at close range absconded immediately they noticed the damage they have done.

But a military source who pleaded anonymity denied the claim and stated that the soldiers went after the criminals, not knowing that stray bullets hit some persons.

“The boys were not on illegal duty. They were on night patrol when they distress information that there was a robbery incident going on at Milverton.

“They quickly went there and on reaching there, the hoodlums saw them and started firing at them. However, the soldiers responded and when the hoodlums noticed that the military weapon was superior to theirs, they took to their heels, while being chased after by the soldiers.

“It was much later that we heard from the police who came to the scene while the soldiers chase after the hoodlums that some persons were injured at Milverton.

“The soldiers who went on that operation are already detained and were being questioned. Investigation into the matter has also started and we will get back to the public as soon as we are done with investigation,” a military source added.

“It was around 10PM. We were all still busy here at the park and the next thing we heard was gunshots. I saw a man who was about to travel that night hit down by bullet. Nobody knows who they were looking for.

“Probably it could be some of these boys that do drugs thing here, but they injured mainly innocent travelers. It was like an American film last night,” narrated an eyewitness.