Gunmen (file photo)

By Sam Oditah

Dare-devil armed men attacked an expatriate in Umuahia on Friday, killing his police orderly and driver in a broad day incident.

The Police Public Relations Officer in Abia, SP Godfrey Ogbonna, confirmed the attack, adding that the bandits also dispossessed the expatriate of N3 million.

Ogbonna told newsmen that the expatriate, said to be a Chinese, escaped unhurt.

The man was said to have come from Aba to withdraw money from a bank in Umuahia and was returning, when the hoodlums trailed him.

It was learnt that the man’s black jeep was intercepted in a hold-up on Mission Hill, near the office of the Nigerian Correctional Service at about noon.

Eyewitness account said, “They intercepted the man at Mission Hill and shot his orderly dead, while his driver sustained gunshot injuries.”

The driver was said to have been taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, where he later died.

The robbers reportedly shot sporadically while fleeing the scene, causing serious panic and pandemonium in Umuahia metropolis and its environs.

Motorists and commuter vehicle operators around Okpara Square fled in different directions to escape from the commotion that ensued.

Shops and business centres were forced to close, following the rumour that the town had been invaded by unknown gunmen.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Abia has in recent time come under serious attack by armed bandits.

The assailants have burnt down seven police formations and offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission and National Drug Law Enforcement Agency in Ohafia.

The dastardly acts have left many police operatives either dead or with gunshot injuries.