By Kelvin Obambon
Suspected armed robbers have attacked a group of women who were on religious pilgrimage in Calabar, the Cross River capital city.
The armed gang numbering up to 10 invaded a small guest house located at Adak Uko Street in Calabar South, where the women were lodging during the week.
The Paradise News gathered that the assailants robbed the women of their belongings such as money, jewellery and other valuables, and also assaulted them.
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According to Daily Post, women from different states in Nigeria and abroad came to participate in the anniversary celebration of the Universal Women’s Fellowship of the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star (BCS), whose international headquarters is situated in the neighbourhood.
Residents of the Adak Uko street told Daily Post that this is the fourth time armed robbers have attacked innocent guests at the guest house in the last two years.
They said they usually wait until they notice that visitors from outside Calabar check in before they pounce on the unsuspecting guests.
According to some of the victims who narrated their ordeals in the hands of the criminals, the suspects spent time entering one room after another, pouncing on the guests with their guns and machetes.
One of the women who gave her name as Sister Angela, said she came from Rivers State. According to her, “We’re strangers in Calabar. We never knew that the particular guest house was so porous in terms of security.
“The armed robbers arrived in the night. While some stood outside, as many as ten forced their way into our doors. One hit me and my sister in our rooms with his gun, demanding money without wasting time.
“I had some cash which I withdrew that night. I handed it over, but they still insisted on more. I pleaded that I don’t have more. They used torchlight and ransacked our bags.”
A man who said he was a manager at the guest house declined to comment on the incident.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Police Public Relations Officer at the state command, DSP Igiri Ewa, said investigation into the robbery incident was underway.
