Fola Felicia (real name withheld), a resident of the Mustapha Jeun area of Masaka, Nasarawa State, was still in shock when she recounted an unusual armed robbery incident that happened close to her residence in the early hours of Tuesday.
She told FIJ that “a group of armed robbers numbering up to 50 or so” gained access to up to 16 flats in the area around 1:40 am.
The robbers, whom she said robbed the neighbourhood for nearly two hours, went away with phones, laptops and money.
“They knocked on our gate more than three times, trying to open the gates. I could hear them banging the gates, but they couldn’t open,” Felicia disclosed.
Felicia told FIJ that this was the first robbery incident she had heard of in the community since she moved there. And now, she has been unable to shake off the sinking feeling that she could have been one of the residents counting their losses had the robbers gained access into her apartment.
When asked if there were local security guards in the community, she said they had a vigilante group hired to keep the community safe.
“Where the vigilante group were at that time is what I don’t know. The incident started before 2 am and lasted almost two hours,” the resident said.
FIJ understands that the community residents called for an emergency meeting over the incident.
Ramhan Nansel, the spokesperson of Nasarawa Police Command, told FIJ that he’s not aware of the robbery but would reach out to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) to know if such a case had been reported.
“One, if the police are not told or the matter is not reported, the police will not know that something like that has happened. I am not aware of this. I am just hearing it now. And if it was reported, the DPO would have sent a report to us to notify us,” Nansel said.
“However, I am going to reach out to the DPO to find out if there is a report of this nature and if there isn’t, I will draw their attention to it so that they will take note.
“For the residents, it is better…it will be advised that they visit the police station to file a report. But I will find out.”
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