By Jonathan Ugbal
Men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad in Cross River State have gunned down five suspected armed robbers in Calabar CrossRiverWatch authoritatively reports.
There are two versions to the story with one eyewitness saying that the robbery took place at IBB by Rabana where they were chased and intercepted at Barracks road while another said that they were chased from Bogobiri.
“They chased them from Bogobiri axis and shot one dead while running, two more were beaten to death by a mob and one was found dead inside a nearby compound located after the Nigerian Chronicle head office here at Barracks road.
“I don’t know how the last one died,” an eyewitness told CrossRiverWatch.
But, the Police command in the state says that the 5 were all gunned down by SARS during a shootout after they had carried out a robbery operation around that axis.
“Yes five were gunned down after a gun battle and a chase from SARS at Barracks road.
“They had robbed around that axis when our men were alerted and chased them. There was a shootout and five of them were gunned down,” said the Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Irene Igbo said.
They had robbed and “collected phones with NGN250,000,” the Police said.
Items recovered from them include “3 locally made pistols, live ammunitions and several other weapons,” the Police said.
Further findings revealed that the mob also burnt down the vehicle used by the suspected robbers.
The atmosphere around Barracks road remains tense as at press time reports our correspondent.