Police arrest two robbers, recover weapons, jewellery in Imo

<p>The police in Imo State on Saturday foiled a robbery attack in the Ikenegbu area of Owerri, the state capital.</p>, <p>The armed robbers stormed a gold shop, Goldwise Wisdom Gold stores, in Owerri.</p>, <p>Eyewitnesses told our correspondent that on arrival in a white pick-up van, the criminals wore military uniforms and were heavily armed.</p>, <p>They were said to have moved into the shop and stole items worth millions of naira and were said to be on their way out before a policeman who accompanied an unidentified personality to have his lunch at a nearby eatery suspected foul play and opened fire on them.</p>, <p>The five-man gang immediately returned the fire and started shooting indiscriminately, causing people to close their shops and run for their lives.</p>, <p>The policeman’s bullet caught the driver of the gang and he died instantly, Sunday PUNCH learnt.</p>, <p>His gang members quickly disembarked from the Hilux van and started running while shooting in the air.</p>, <p>One of the eyewitnesses said, “The policeman suspected foul play and quickly opened fire on them. He killed the driver of the gang and four other members jumped out and started shooting. Police reinforcement from the command headquarters quickly arrived. Two were caught while others escaped.”</p>, <p>It was learnt that the items they stole were immediately recovered from them.</p>, <p>Another eyewitness told our correspondent that he was grateful to God that no innocent soul was killed in the incident.</p>, <p>He said, “They were in army camouflage. As they stormed the plaza in a Hilux van, residents and traders around that vicinity thought they were policemen or military men but to their utmost dismay, they were men of the underworld. As they were busy harvesting the gold from the shelves, a policeman attached to someone who came to buy one item or the other noticed that it was a robbery attack and fired at the driver and gunned him down, thereby disrupting the movement of the robbers. They took to their heels by foot.”</p>, <p>Para