PHOTO: Some of the suspected dead armed robbers and oxygen tank used to break into safe
By William Selmah, wselmah@gmail.com
The Anti-Robbery Unit of the Liberia National Police early Thursday morning (May 20, 2021) gunned down five suspected armed robbers in the commercial district of Red Light in Paynesville, near Monrovia.
This latest incident comes in the wake of a serious upsurge in armed robbery attacks on peaceful residents across the Liberian capital and its environs in recent times.
The men were said to have entered a cold storage store being operated by an Indian national and burst into the safe said to contain around LD$500, 000 dollars. The current exchange rate is one United States dollar to 170-171 Liberian dollars.
Their bodies were displayed along with a kit bag choked with Liberian dollar banknotes of various denominations. Also displayed before the Fresh Frozen Food Incorporated was the oxygen tank used to burst into the safe.
Police Inspector General, Patrick Sudue addressing reporters at the crime scene said a private citizen had called the police in the early hours of Thursday to inform them that a security guard (actually a driver instead), was being severely beaten by some unknown men.
Liberian dollar banknotes retrieved by police
Some officers, he said were immediately dispatched there. He further explained that upon approaching the Fresh Frozen Food Incorporated – scene of the alleged armed robbery, the police officers saw men posted at strategic points. That suggested that either a robbery or armed robbery was being carried out, thus leaving them with no other alternative but to pull back, regroup and engage them again.
Another dead suspected armed robber
But IG Sudue said upon engaging the two suspects who were positioned in front of the building, they (suspects) opened fire and fled the scene. A parked vehicle earlier spotted meanwhile earlier left the place.
As the police attempted accessing the building by opening the front door, the suspected armed robbers shot through the opening of the door. But the police officer managed to stay safe and returned fire instantly hitting and killing two of the suspected robbers. They subsequently entered before gunning down the remaining three in the building.
The Police Chief disclosed in his address to the media that the officers involved in the operation leading to the killing of the suspected armed robbers will be honored with the police bravery award. “We need to encourage our officers. These guys leave families. They leave behind their wives and children and risk their lives for public safety” the IG continued.
He also used the occasion to call on other would be armed robbers to take cue from the operation carried out against the five dead suspects and desist. “We will come after you wherever you go, he stressed.
One of those killed, the Police Inspector General Sudue explained, has been on police radar for some time, after escaping a previous armed robbery attempt. He identified the suspect as a Nigerian national and resident of Logan Town.