Uromi bank robbery: Banker opens up on deadly attack that claimed 8 lives

A banker in one of the banks robbed in Uromi in Esan North-East on Thursday which led to the death of eight people has said that they thought that it was the usual burial ceremonies they witness in the area every Thursday and Friday when the robbers gunshots were first heard.

Narrating his experience to Vanguard, a top management staff of one of the affected banks said; “We normally hear those gunshots in Uromi on Thursdays and Fridays which are for burial ceremonies and activities so when the gunshots started, initially we thought it was the usual gunshots for burials.

“I was in the office upstairs when I started hearing the gunshots until suddenly, my whole staff started running upstairs and they were shouting ‘dem don come, dem don come’ and I was asking who and they said thieves so I also ran with them to hide in our computer room but I discovered that it was not safe.

“I ran upstairs into the toilet but I discovered that it was not also safe because the guns and the effect of the dynamites they were using, the debris were landing on top of me, I ran away again to another part of the building that I felt was safer.

“I was there when they entered that banking hall after breaking the doors with their explosives.

“When they broke in the younger staff with the key surrendered the key to the safe to them while the other abandoned his key on top of his table before he ran away so they made the younger one use the two keys to open the doors for them and they took monies away but abandoned a few behind.” (Sunday Vanguard: Excludes headline)