Gunmen believed to be armed robbers, last week, invaded the Nasarawa State Ministry of Finance, Budget, and Planning, carting away the sum of N100 million in the process.
The office is said to be located adjacent to the office of the State Accountant General, which is being manned by many security personnel.
While this development has now become a puzzle for security operatives in the state to solve, an eyewitness who pleaded anonymity reportedly told Daily Trust that suspected armed robbers trailed officials of the ministry from a commercial bank in Lafia, the state capital, where they went to withdraw cash to pay casual workers.
“But it was in the ministry’s premises that the well-armed gunmen snatched the N100 million from the finance ministry’s officials while trying to dislodge the cash from the vehicle that was conveying it to the cash room,” the eyewitness told the publication.
“In the process of snatching the said amount of money, the gunmen shot sporadically in the air that the ministry’s officials carrying the money and other staff of the ministry within the premises laid down low paving the way for the gunmen to snatch the N100 million effortlessly.”
He said the robbery was successful because the ministry did not engage the services of security agencies.
Meanwhile, the State’s Commissioner for Finance, Budget, and Planning, Mr. Haruna Ogbole, has since confirmed the robbery incident, saying an investigation is ongoing.