Daredevil robbers struck again in the Government Reserved Area of Benin and robbed a hotel, which is less than 500 metres away from the Edo State Government House.
About 13 lodgers and workers of the hotel were dispossessed of their belongings, while the manager was critically injured and is receiving treatment in a private hospital.
The hotel also shares a fence with the residence of some personnel of the 4 Brigade of the Nigerian Army.
After the #EndSARS protests, which led to two jailbreaks with over 1,800 inmates still at large, the residents have been left at the mercy of robbers, as the r and men of the state police command have yet to take over the public space as directed by the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu.
A victim of the robbery, who was a guest in the hotel, said the robbers had a field day as they moved from one room to another, tied their victims and stole valuables, food and drinks.
The victim stated, “The incident happened around 3am on Wednesday. The robbers spent over one hour moving from one room to the other. They came in immediately after the public light went off.
“They first pounced on the security man, who was going to put on the generator; they tied him to the generator and went to the reception before proceeding to the office of the accountant, who they forced to lead them to each of the rooms, ransacked and took everything from us, including our phones, money and other valuables.
“They were six in number and four of them carried guns, while the others carried machetes, which they used on the manager of the hotel, who is currently hospitalised.
“The robbers also went away with all the cooked food in the kitchen and took all the drinks in the freezers, leaving only water. They tied everybody’s hands and legs, and also had time to drink some of the beers and took the remaining ones and the food into an SUV owned by a guest, and went away with the vehicle.”
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Chidi Nwabuzor, said police personnel would soon be back on the streets.
“The Inspector-General of Police visited us yesterday (Wednesday) and he has energised the men, and apart from the IG, Governor Godwin Obaseki has equally energised the men; so, very soon, you will see that action will start.”
