Tragedy struck on Thursday in Owerri, the Imo State capital, when gunmen suspected to be armed robbers shot dead a bank customer a few meters away from the Government House.
The deceased, eyewitnesses said, was shot dead by the armed men when he allegedly refused to hand over the money he withdrew from the bank a few meters away from the scene of the crime.
The spokesperson for the Police in the state, Andrew Enwerem, who confirmed the death of the victim to our correspondent in a telephone conversation, said the victim, male, whose identity had yet to be known as of the time of filing this report, had finished transaction at a branch of a commercial bank (name withheld) on Wethedral Road, from where the robbers tracked him down.
The Police spokesperson said that on coming out of the bank, the victim noticed that some strange persons were trailing him, and he quickly jumped into a Toyota Camry being driven by a woman.
Enwerem said the gunmen quickly ran after the Camry and eventually caught up with their target as a result of a traffic jam in front of a branch of another commercial bank, very close to the Government House.
They allegedly opened the car, shot him and made away with his bag, which apparently contained the money.
He said the Police immediately evacuated the victim to the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, where he was confirmed dead.
Enwerem, who said the identity of the dead man had yet to be known, informed that the manhunt for the killers had started.
