Photo: Notorious armed robber shot dead in Calabar

A notorious armed robbery suspect popularly called `Ak 1' was killed by Operation Skolombo Special Task Force on Monday, January 9th, at Bogobiri area, Mary Slessor road, Cross River State.
An eye witness, Alhaji Shehu Kabir, told CrossRiverWatch correspondent that the killed suspect and his gang at large have been terrorizing and robbing business men and women at the area for a long period of time.

"On New Year day, this particular guy lying down here popularly called `AK 1’ and his gang robbed one Alhaji in this area and collected some dollars from him. Youths around the area pursued them on that faithful day but they escaped narrowly through some others.

"At the early hours of today, around 1.a.m, this same guy and his gang tried to rob one of the big businesses men in this area but unfortunately, luck ran out of them because the Operation Skolombo van was on patrol and residents were shouting for rescue. The Operation Skolombo security guys shot at them, two of his members escaped while the bullet caught him right in his upper abdomen", he said.

Confirming the incident, Capt. Kayode Owolabi, the Public Relations officer of 13 Brigade Nigerian Army, Calabar, said that the killed suspect belongs to a robbery gang of three members.

According to him, Operation Skolombo had received several complaints about the criminal activities of the gang at the Bogobiri area.

"The suspect was shot by men of the Operation Skolombo while on patrol. He belongs to a three man robbery gang that used local pistols in terrorizing business men at Bogobiri area. We have called the police to come over so that we can hand over the corpse to them", he said

 Operation Skolombo is a special task force set up by the Cross River government to mob up street urchins and other criminals activities within Calabar. It's a joint task force operating in Calabar metropolis and comprising of the Army, Police, Navy, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.