The Commissioner of Police in Abia State, Mr. Anthony Ogbizi has tasked hotel operators in the State to cooperate with the Police in the fight against armed robbery by putting security doors in their reception rooms.
He said the security arrangement would help the hotel management to detect suspected criminals intending to lodge in their hotels.
The Police boss stated this while parading four suspected armed robbers at the command headquarters in Umuahia.
He said the suspects were arrested following a tip off from the hotel where they had lodged to plan their operation.
He added that an English short gun was found on one of the suspects when they were trailed and arrested by Police operatives.
He said “It might interest you to know that we had arrested five suspected armed robbers in one of the hotels in the same area these suspects were arrested.
“The owner of the English gun, shot into the air to convince the others that the gun was working, it was based on that the hotel management called and informed the Police about the incident.
“We have warned hotel owners to improve on their security architecture, because if such incident repeats itself again we will be left with no alternative than to close the hotel.
“Although the hoteliers may not know the intention of those coming to lodge in their hotels, but as a result of the constant experience we have had, if the hoteliers do not implement the security measure we asked them to put in place, and we discover that criminals still lodge in their hotels to plan their operation, we have no option than to close down any hotel that is found wanting”.
Confessing to the crime one of the suspects who gave his name only as Daniel, said he bought the gun for self defense from an unidentified seller in Port Harcourt.
He said he was planning on getting a license for the gun before he was arrested.
“A friend of mine who came back from the US sold the gun to me when he was going back. I bought the gun at the sum of one hundred thousand.
“I have no intension to rob with the gun, I only acquired it to protect myself, and I released a shot into the air because I was drunk” he said.
