The Speaker, Edo State House of Assembly, Hon Marcus Onobun, has attributed the ease with which armed robbers attacked banks in Uromi, Esan North-East Local Government Area in a coordinated manner to lack on intelligence by security agencies and the porous nature of the town.
Robbers numbering about twenty in a coordinated manner invaded four banks in the town on Thursday, killed seven persons including two policemen and also attacked the Area Police Command in the town.
Onobun, while speaking on national television, which was monitored in Benin City, also said he in the company of the state Deputy Governor, Comrade Philip Shaibu would be visiting the area for the on-the-spot assessment.
While commiserating with the families of those who lost their lives, he said “What happened yesterday came to us as a rude shock. It’s what one could best describe as an invasion. And with what we have seen, the pictorial evidence and some videos that have been around on social media, it’s quite unfortunate.
“With what I saw, even though we’ve not been properly briefed, about what actually happened, you could see that the security was overwhelmed. And it’s quite unfortunate that such an incident could be carried out without any formal intelligence to the various security agencies, because I don’t think that such an action was just planned overnight, because you have these criminals numbering over 20 with various vehicles and all sophisticated weapons and all of that.”
Onobun added: “And also considering the location of the financial institutions and the area; yes, it is quite porous because we have a boundary with Delta State, and of course, there are some other routes to some riverine areas; the Illushi where you have the River Niger. However, we must now be talking about how to forestall future occurrences of this incidence.
“Myself and His Excellency, the deputy governor, will be visiting the scene today to get first-hand information as to what really happened, and how to curtail future occurrences, it’s quite unfortunate, and it’s so scary.”
Speaking on the capacity of the police which station was said to be close to one of the affected banks, Onobun said: “For the local government where this thing happened, Esan North East, it’s one of the most populous local governments we have in Edo Central, and they have a standard police station, so we expect that they have all the required equipment.
“From what we were told, the police station was also attacked. So, these are part of the investigation that the security agencies have to carry out.
“There are so many questions that are begging for answers to know those who conspired to see that this attempt to raid the people were successful; we also need to know how those people got into town that the security agencies were unable to pick on them, and they drove freely, and all of that. So, these are questions that are begging for answers.”
The Speaker called on the government at all levels to increase their vigilance so as to check future occurrence of such incidents even as he called on security agencies to use the available pictorial evidence and videos to fish out the culprits.
“I want to believe, with what we have in place, the security architecture that had been set up by the state, we would be able to track these people down as well as bring them to justice,” he said.