Phone thieves kill 50-year-old man in Calabar

A gang of street robbers, that specialises in snatching phones of their victims, has killed a 50-year-old man, identified as Ekpo Eyo, at Ikot Nkebre community in Calabar municipality of Cross River state, after cutting off his left hand.
Eyewitnesses said Eyo, a father of four and who hailed from Okoyong in Odukpani local government area of the state, died of excessive bleeding on IBB Avenue as he was being rushed to the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH).
The landlord to the late Eyo, Prince Raphael Nkebre, said: “The incident happened close to Assemblies of God Church in Ikot Nkebre, adjacent my house.
Yesterday, we were just sitting together in the evening at about 8 pm, drinking.
The second daughter to Mr Eyo, Miss Ikwo Eyo, went out to see off her friend who visited.
“On her way back, some rough boys apprehended her and collected her hand set.
The set was actually her mother’s.
She ran back crying that some hoodlums have snatched her mother’s phone from her and pointed at where they were standing.
We then ran after the guys but Ekpo ran faster and met them.
The boys asked him: ‘do you want the phone?’ He said, ‘yes, give it back to me.” Continuing, he said: “In a twinkling of an eye, they brought out a matchet and severed his hand, and left the man writhing in pains in the pool of his blood.
Since they were about eight and armed with guns and machetes while we were only two, I could not go close to where they were standing, I stood helplessly somewhere in a dark spot listening to their conversation.
“It was after they had left that I went close to where he was lying.
I shouted and beckoned on the wife to come.
We rushed him to University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) that night but before we could arrive, he gave up the ghost along IBB Avenue.” In his reaction, the village head of Ikot Nkebre community, Chief Anthony Nkebre, said: “I could say we are under siege by armed robbers.
Please let our government know that we are not safe here.
These bad boys have made IkotNkebre their safe haven terrorising everybody and wrecking havoc at will.
“We even tried to come up with vigilante group but there is a limit to what an unarmed vigilante group can do when confronted by armed bad boys.
Government should help us.
We have land to donate to them tobuild a security post.
“Apart from that, security agencies should always be sent to patrol this area so that this menace would not go out of control.
A pregnant woman was also killed by phone snatchers the other time.”