The police command in Imo has confirmed Sunday’s robbery attack on motorists in the Orji area of Owerri, in which four persons were shot.

The command’s spokesperson, Orlando Ikeokwu, confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria in Owerri.

Mr Ikeokwu said the victims were taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri.

The robbery took place near the Orji Divisional Police Headquarters on Owerri-Okigwe Road around 10.30 p.m.

It was learnt that the armed robbers, who were trailing an unmarked security vehicle, double-crossed it at Orji and opened fire on the driver.

A witness of the robbery explained that the gunmen also robbed other motorists and commuters in commercial vehicles at the spot.

The witness added that the robbers shot sporadically after the operation and fled the scene.

“It was during the sporadic shooting that bullets hit three more persons around the area,” the witness said.

The robbery attack caused panic in the area, forcing residents and passersby to run helter-skelter for their lives.

The robbery, which came barely one day after the attack on Governor Hope Uzodinma’s country home in Omuma, further heightened the fear of insecurity in the state.

In another development, the police spokesman debunked an alleged attack on the Imo House of Assembly.

In a statement, he described the online video, showing the assembly complex on fire, as false.

According to him, the building, which was on fire in a social media video, was neither the state house of assembly nor any building in Imo.

(NAN)