A Policeman and two others lost their lives when armed robbers stormed the Rivers State-owned newspaper corporation, The Tide, in the early hours of yesterday.
Staff of the corporation, who spoke to Vanguard, said the gunmen headed straight to the production department at about 12.30 a.m while staff were busy working on the edition of the paper due for yesterday, adding that they robbed them of valuables which included cash and phones.
Some of the staff were allegedly manhandled by the robbers. Luck, however, ran out on the robbers when some staff in another office quickly alerted the General Manager of the corporation, Mr Celestine Ogolo, who immediately notified the Police.
Vanguard gathered that in the ensuing gun battle, two of the robbers were killed while one Policeman lost his life, a situation the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ahmad Muhammad confirmed to newsmen.
One of the staff, who was rushed to a trauma centre close to the newspaper office, Mr Emughedi Isaiah Sam, said he was shot in the leg by the robbers, adding that about four of his colleagues also had injuries.
He said: “We were working when we saw strange faces in the production room. The next thing we knew was that they surrounded us and asked us to submit our valuables.
“They said they were going to deal with whoever that refuses to cooperate with them. Before I knew it, one of them shot me in the leg. Some of us were injured and taken to the hospital for treatment.”
Two of the robbers managed to escape. The Police said no arrests had been made.
