Armed robbers raid Delta deputy governor’s lodge

A gang of armed robbers have broken into the residence of the Deputy Governor of Delta State, Prof. Amos Utuama (SAN), and made away with vital documents.
The rampaging robbers, numbering five, allegedly defiled the heavy presence of policemen at the lodge, who were said to be sleeping on duty, disconnected the barb-wire on the parameter fence, scaled through it before succeeding in carrying out the crime.
The lodge is situated in the Government Reserved Area, Asaba, the state capital,
The stern-looking security personnel deployed to the residence were shocked that the robbers scaled the 16 feet fence and headed for the Sport Utility Vehicles neatly parked in the premises and ransacked all of them.
The gang allegedly arrived the lodge at midnight on Tuesday, broke into it and thoroughly ransacked the cars before carting away vital documents, including nine brain-boxes of the cars in the compound.
Undisclosed amount of cash and cartridges, hidden in some of the vehicles’ safes, were equally removed.
Obviously peeved by the success the hoodlums recorded, Utuama ordered the immediate redeployment of all security personnel drafted to his premises while his domestic staff were sacked with immediate effect.
The Deputy Governor’s Chief Detail and other senior security officers, who were on duty when the crime was committed, have been subjected to serious scrutiny, facing orderly trial for alleged complicity.
The gang did not end there, they moved from the Deputy Governor’s Office to the Commissioners’ Lodge, located opposite the Governor Office.
A Toyota Hilux, belonging to Governor’s Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Barrister Richard Mofe Damijo, better known as RMD, was vandalized and ransacked.
RMD ‘s counterpart in the Directorate of Local Government Affairs, Barrister Neworld Safuga, and Patrick Ferife (Lands and Survey) also got their fair share from the robbers.
They broke into their vehicles and looted valuable items, ranging from cash to car brain-boxes.
While the state Police Public Relations Officer, Lucky Uyabeme, an ASP, claimed ignorance of the incident but promised to investigate it, a top government functionary at the Deputy Governor’s Office, who sought for anonymity, confirmed what he described as “security breach” at Utuama’s Lodge.