There was chaos and panic on Thursday, when some gunmen attacked the Nasarawa State Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning in Lafia and stole N100 million.
An eyewitness told Daily Trust that the robbers trailed officials of the ministry from a commercial bank in Lafia, where they had withdrawn the money to their office (ministry) before the attack.
The money was said to be meant for casual workers of the ministry. The ministry’s office is adjacent to the State’s Accountant General’s Office, where personnel of the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps were stationed.
But it was in the ministry’s premises that the well-armed gunmen snatched the N100 million from the finance ministry’s officials while trying to dislodge the cash from the vehicle that was conveying it to the cash room.
In the process of snatching the said amount of money, the gunmen shot sporadically in the air that the ministry’s officials carrying the money and other staff members of the ministry within the premises laid down low, paving the way for the gunmen to snatch the N100 million effortlessly,” the eyewitness said.
The Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Planning, Mr Haruna Ogbole, confirmed the robbery incident to Daily Trust. He said investigation was ongoing.
