The bullion van was conveying cash from Aba to Umuahia. The incident which happened on Tuesday at about 1:30 pm at Ntigha junction at Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway way also left one of the robbers dead.

Parading the corpse of the neutralised robber, public relations officer of Abia State Police Command, SP Geoffrey Ogbonna on Tuesday said the robbers barricaded the expressway where they laid ambush waiting for the bullion van.

In an effort to escape, the yet-to-be-identified official of the bank who was escorting the cash was killed on the spot while three police officers were injured.

An AK47 rifle with three loaded magazines strapped were recovered from the robbers.

He said, “Based on a distress call, teams of tactical operatives were dispatched to the scene. At the scene, one inspector Leo Francis of CTU (Counter Terrorist Unit) base 4 Aba was met and he stated that he along with five others while escorting a bullion van from Ogukwu streets Aba to Umuahia ran into a gang of armed robbers who had barricaded the high way and were firing sporadically.

“Efforts made to stop the bullion van and escort vehicle yielded no dividend as the driver veered into the bush.

“The cash officer accompanying the bullion van was shot dead on the spot, three policemen on escort sustained bullet injuries while one of the armed robbers was neutralized and his AK 47, rifle with 90 rounds of ammunition was recovered.