Armed Robbers Discovered Empty Vault (Photo)

A gang of armed robbers got the shock of their lives on Christmas eve when they broke into a branch of an old generation bank in Ondo state.

The Sun reports that the suspects, Ebibo Winoh, Michael Mipera, Thank­god Sugha and Idowu Sobijoh, were shocked when they opened the bank’s vault and met it empty.

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When they were arrested last week­end by operatives of the Inspec­tor General of Police Special In­telligence Response Team (SIRT) in Ondo state, the suspects revealed that they broke into the bank with the help of a security guard, who had once worked with the bank.

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The robbers

The bank’s former security guard was said to have been sacked last year, allegedly approached a mem­ber of the gang, Michael Mipera, with the robbery idea. Mipera, who is a native of Ajapa in Ese-Odo local government area of the state was told by the former security guard that security around the bank at night is always light.

During interrogation, the suspected leader of the gang, Mipera said that they monitored the bank for weeks be­fore the struck. He said:

“After the bank’s former security man gave us infor­mation, we rented a room close to the police station in the communi­ty. We found a petty job, as a form of distraction while we monitored the activities of the police and that of the bank. We discovered that at night, there is no private security official or policeman guarding the bank. We also discovered that the police station was not active and cannot easily withstand us if we are heavily armed.

“As soon as the experts from Ikorodu arrived, we agreed to strike on Christmas eve because everyone is supposed to be busy preparing for Christmas.

“We entered the bank easily and broke into the vault. We got the shock of our lives when we discov­ered that it was empty. It was when we understood why there was no security man in the bank. Our mat­ter got worse when we were ar­rested the next day by policemen. I am begging for mercy because we did not succeed. There is no money to return rather we are looking for how to raise money to pay back those we hired from Lagos.”

Meanwhile, a Calabar based businessman and his son, were shot in Cross River state after an armed robbery operation in the victim’s residence which reportedly lasted for more than three hours.