Ughelli residents decry increasing armed robbery attacks; calls on govt, security agencies to intervene

By Gabriel Oghenekaro,

Residents of Onoharigho Street in Ughelli, Ughelli North Local Government Area, Delta State have decried the spate of robbery attacks and the increase in criminal activities in the town which has become alarming.

The residents who sent a Save our Soul (SoS)  to the state government and security agencies claimed they can no longer sleep with two eyes closed as armed robbers, daily break into houses to rob occupants.

A resident and landlord who deals in frozen foods in the area, (name withheld) was in the early hours of Friday, October 1, 2021, robbed of his household items, phones, pieces of jewellery and others.

According to the report, the dare-devil armed robbers gain access into the house at about 1:00 am using substances suspected to be raw acid to break the padlocks used in locking the burglary and made way into the house, and headed straight to the bedroom and woke the man up with guns.

Sources stated that the robbers threatened to shot the man if he failed to give them money, but it took the intervention of God as he appealed to them that he doesn’t keep money at home. It was however reported that the robbers also made effort to gain entry into the other rooms, but were scared of being caught as they have spent much time in the operation.

The robbers were said to have scaled through another fence to wake the occupant after fruitless efforts breaking the key. But unfortunate to them, it was only the man that was in his room, and he was woken up to open his parlour door, he went to the parlour and refused to open the door.

About four houses were robbed in one night while there have been rising cases of vandalism, theft of generators and other valuables in the area.

A resident who spoke to our reporter on condition of anonymity, said, for some weeks ago, strange faces has been seen parading the area and beg security agents to see that area as a flashpoint for a crime.