Gunmen on Thursday attacked a bullion van at Ogbor-Nguru in the Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State.
Our correspondent gathered that the bullion van took off from Owerri, the state capital, and was billed to offload cash at one of the new generational banks in Mbaise when it was attacked.
An eyewitness, Kennedy Onwunali, told our correspondent that the gunmen attacked their target at the General Hospital in Mbaise.
He said the attackers shot at the van continuously, but the driver was courageous enough to keep moving.
According to the eyewitness, the bullion van overturned after the driver continued dodging the gunmen.
He said, “The gunmen intercepted the bullion van at Hospital Junction, Mbaise, but the driver was courageous enough to keep moving. They went after him and kept shooting. Everybody scampered for safety. The van later overturned, but the armed robbers ran away. No life was not. No money was lost. The driver survived with a bank official and police escort.
“The police have arrived at the scene and taken over. But economic and commercial activities came to an abrupt end because of fear. There was serious panic.”
The spokesperson for the police in the state, Micheal Abattam, confirmed the attack in a statement.
He said, “Sketchy information revealed that the bullion van was returning after delivering money and was attacked by hoodlums. The driver, on noticing it, tried to escape. Unfortunately, his vehicle overturned. No money was carted away.”