Police investigations are underway following the killing of two armed robbers in Abau who were caught in a failed robbery attempt by villagers from Egalauna along the Aroma Coast recently.
Central Provincial Police Commander, Chief Inspector Laimo Asi confirmed two armed criminals met their fate at the hands of the villagers on Sunday while trying to rob a shop owned by a foreign national which operates in the village.
“At around 9.30 am five armed suspects, all armed with homemade guns made their way into the store and were about to rob the store when the villagers’ received information of the robbery went to the store, killing two and also injuring the others.”
“This escalated into a full-on confrontation between villages from Egalauna and another village within the same area as it is widely speculated that a few of the suspects may have come from another village.”
This further resulted in looting of the shop and the Chinese national sustaining injuries during this incident.
PPC Asi further added that the fighting the two villages that were involved in the incident were neighbouring villages that live near the Chinese shop.
In wake of the incident, police confirmed that several homes were torched and thanks to the help of a few villagers, the shop owner and another were taken to safety.
The PPC has now warned the people in the village to refrain from fighting.
“The people in the village had been warned not to take the law into their own hands and cause further destruction.”
“I want people of these villages to respect police investigation.”
“I expect to meet with the leaders of Egala’auna, Maopa and Gaivakala on Wednesday to discuss restoration of peace normalcy as way forward.”
PPC Asi said there had been reports of people issuing threats and intimidation against people of the Egala’auna taking advantage of the situation and police are monitoring the situation.