Gunmen suspected to be armed Robbers reportedly robbed the Nasarawa State government of the sum of N100 million at gunpoint.
The incident took place in the premises of the Nasarawa State Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning, on Tuesday in Lafia, adjacent to the state Accountant General’s Office, where an array of security operatives were on guard for the state Accountant General.
An eyewitness, who craved for anonymity, told MoneyCentral that the suspected armed robbers trailed officials of the state Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning from a commercial bank in Lafia where they went and withdrew cash from a commercial bank in Lafia in order to pay casual workers of the ministry.
“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.
“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 lay down low paving the way for the gunmen to snatch the N100 million effortlessly,” the eyewitness narrated.
The eyewitness also said that the robbery was successful without hitches because the ministry does not engage the services of security agencies in carrying out activities in the ministry.
“Officials of the ministry wouldn’t want to expend the ministry’s resources on security operatives hence they neglected services of security agencies in the day to day running of the ministry.
When contacted in a telephone conversation, the state Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Planning, Haruna Ogbole, confirmed the robbery incident and said that investigations were ongoing, but he declined disclosure of the amount stolen by the suspected armed robbers.