Zimpapers Logo

The upsurge in cases of armed robberies targeting mainly retail outlets and service stations in Bulawayo is a cause for concern. The robbers have become so daring to the extent of pouncing on their targets even in broad daylight.

The latest robbery was at Blesspack Supermarket in Mahatshula North suburb when two masked gun-toting robbers held employees and customers hostage. The robbers who later got away with $1 200 ordered the customers and employees to lie down before demanding cash from one of the till operators.

One of the robbers shot and narrowly missed a man who had struck one of them with a bottle. Five days before the Mahatshula robbery, three masked men robbed Cooland Supermarket in Nkulumane 12 suburb and got away with $1 000.

The robbers shot and injured one of the employees. Last month armed robbers brandishing pistols and an AK47 rifle raided two service stations and got away with airtime recharge cards and cash worth $1 260. A police officer who is a member of an elite arm of the force has since been arrested in connection with one of the service stations robberies.

Amos Hlori (39) a sergeant in the crack Police Special Tactics (PST) unit stationed at Fairbridge Police Camp is alleged to have raided Total Service Station last month armed with an AK47 rifle and got away with $154. A number of service stations in the city have been hit by armed robbers who have since moved to supermarkets.

What is pleasing is that police have since accounted for some of the robbers but what is worrying is that residents are now living in fear of being shot while doing their shopping as these robbers are raiding the retail outlets while they still open for business. There is therefore an urgent need for police to come up with counter strategies to thwart these robberies.

There is every reason to suspect that there is one group of robbers on the prowl in the city given their modus operandi. What is worrying is that the robbers seem to be very trigger-happy.

Members of the public should therefore not resist their orders or attempt to fight them as what happened in the Mahatshula robbery. Members of the public as well as workers at retail outlets and service stations should always be very alert and report suspicious persons to the police.

We have said it before that criminals live in communities and it is only with co-operation of members of the public that these undesirable elements can be flushed out.