So Sad! Policeman Who Survived Owerri Bank Robbery Attack Loses Eye, Begs for Help (Photos)
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policeman, Sergeant Otu Attang, the only survivor of the armed robbery attack on the Zenith Bank at Wetheral Road, Owerri, Imo State, has cried out for help.
Attang sustained injuries during the gun battle with four armed robbers in February, 2017 while on duty at the bank.
He lost one of his eyes and is reported to require N3m for surgery.
Attang told Ifeanyicy.com in an interview on Saturday that he was hit in the eye during the encounter with the robbers.
He said he was told by doctors that there were bullets still lodged in his skull and his jaw; and that he needed urgent surgeries to have them removed.
Attang, who revealed that he had already had a surgery to take out his eyes and install a prosthesis, added that he had had paid for his treatment all by himself, while he also cares for his family even in his sick state.
“I underwent a lot of X-rays and surgeries, and it was discovered that I needed eye surgery.
“I had my eye surgery at Mercy Hospital, Orji, and I was on crutches for seven weeks, as my left leg was badly battered by bullets.
“I also went through a surgery to have my feet repaired at my own expense,” he told the blog.
Attang revealed that he left the Police Clinic because the cost was unbearable and he still had to fend for himself there.
He noted that, at some point, former Commissioner of Police and now Assistant Inspector General, Taiwo Lakanu, intervened and accepted to pay the N20,000 daily charge on his ward, but he had to cater for his medications and other expenses by himself.
He said he also had to pay additional N20,000 after paying N40,000 initially when he was to do his eye surgery.
Attang said the unbearable cost of treatment at the Police Clinic forced him to go to a more affordable hospital.
He added that it was his aunt who provided the money for the eye surgery because his children became scared of his battered eye.
He revealed further that after the shootout, the three injured policemen were first taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, where one of them, Sergeant Chukwudi Iboko, died.
The remaining two were then transferred to the Police Clinic where Sergeant Sunday Agbo, a second officer, also died.
The lone survivor acknowledged that Zenith Bank had provided N400,000 for their treatment while the injured policemen were at the FMC Owerri; and the bank also provided another N200,000 for their care while they were at the Police Clinic.
He said that since then, he has been left to take care of himself.
“Iboko died by 4am on February 23 and we were transferred to the Police Clinic by Shell Camp, Owerri. Sunday Agbo died the same day at about 3pm while we were at the Police Clinic,” Attang said.
On whether they received rewards for their gallantry, Attang said the former CP who is now AIG, Lakanu, had visited them at the FMC on the day of the incident and told them that he (Lakanu) had spoken with the Inspector General of Police who had ordered that they be recommended for promotion because of their gallantry.
Attang however expressed regrets that no word about the promotion has been heard again despite the death of his colleagues.
The injured policeman revealed further that appeals to the management of Zenith Bank at Wetheral Road where they were attacked by the armed robbers had yielded no result.
He noted that he was only told to thank God that he did not die, and that the management did not have the power to authorise such expenditure.
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