Fear grips POS operators as robbers return to Umuaka.
2 min read
In the recent time, there have been reports of violent return of armed robbers who operate in Umuaka and target “motorcycle boys” or POS operators and dispossess them of their motorcycles, handsets and cash respectively. For a couple of weeks running, Umuaka Times has come in contact with reports of motorcycle snatching especially in Uba community axis, Ugbele and other parts of the community. It is on record that not all the robberies are reported by Umuaka Times. Some come too late while some others don’t get to Umuaka Times newsroom at all.
Last week, the ugly armed robbery incident took place once again in Ugbele Akah Autonomous Community where on Friday September 8, 2023, a POS operator lost a huge sum of money plus handsets to armed robbers on a motorcycle who who stormed the community like a Hollywood film. From the eyewitness account Umuaka Times came across after the incident, the robbery did not last more than 2 minutes and the armed robbers zoomed off immediately they made their big kill, leaving the POS operator helpless and wailing.
Umuaka Times reporters gathered that several POS operators in Umuaka and other nearby communities are mere agents who are entitled to peanuts as their salaries. So far, over 70 percent of them that have been robbed in Umuaka over the years falls into this category.
There are indications also that some POS business owners find it hard to believe that their workers who have so far fallen victims of the robberies at several quarters in Umuaka are innocent of the crime.
It appears that the robbery attackss just shifted to POS operators. Usually some customers of a commercial bank domiciled in Umuaka have always been the target of such robbery attacks. Many Akalites have so far lost large sums of money through this form of robbery expedition. The method is always when the customers receive their pay from the bank and hit the road. Before they get to their destination, armed robbers on motorcycle will confront them at gunpoint and dispossess them of the money. Some of the victims of this particular crime were reportedly shot by the robbers.
For now, POS business operators in Umuaka are living in fear, hoping that one day a lasting solution will emerge. Already Umuaka town has recorded some deaths which occurred during several POS robbery incidents in the community. Indications also emerged last week from some certain quarters that the boys who carry out the robberies in Umuaka may most likely not be Akalites. A POS operator who spoke with Umuaka Times under the condition of anonymity confirmed that. “No Akalite will go for robbery in Umuaka without covering his face with a mask. These robbers don’t operate with face masks which shows that they are from other towns.”
