Armed robbery: Delta police places bank managers, staff under watch

The police in Delta State has placed some banks officials in Warri and other towns in its Delta South Area Command under security watch.

The move followed reports that officials of the targeted banks were working with armed robbery gangs.

The Nation gathered that no fewer than 12 branches of old and new generation banks in the city were suspected of having staff either working directly with or being in the payroll of robbery gangs that specialize in attacking customers who make huge withdrawals.

A very reliable police source told our reporter on Wednesday that “we have genuine and reliable intelligence to support our belief that bank workers are working hand-in-hand with robbery gangs in the cities identified.”

Our source said detectives became suspicious after their records indicated that customers of the affected banks were attacked and robbed just after leaving the premises with huge sums of money.

“Within the spate of one month we have recorded up to 10 incidents and they are all traceable to those banks. This gives us the hint that there are people in those banks that are giving information to the robbers.

“They are working hand in hand and we believe that these people usually connive with the robbers by giving detailed information of how much a victim withdraws, colour of his car and other details,” our source added.

Already, it was gathered that the Area Commander, Delta South, Mr. Mu’azu Muhammed, had scheduled a meeting with the managers of the banks identified for the nefarious activities.

The meeting, it was learnt, would hold either Thursday or Friday.

As a prelude to the meeting, our reporter learnt that top police brass in the cities identified, including Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) and head of special units, including the Quick Response Squad (QRS) and Counter-Terrorism Unit (CTU) are to meet to formulate strategy on how to deal with the new trend.

It was learnt that the head of the various units would be detailed to keep close watch on the banks identified in the security report.

The Police Public Relations Officer in Delta State Command, DSP Celestina Kalu, who was contacted, said she was not aware of any bank being specifically identified as hotspot for robbers.