SOLDIER TURNS TABLES ON ARMED ROBBERS

NKOYOYO -– A soldier who was held hostage together with customers at an Asian shop reportedly stabbed three of four men alleged to be part of a syndicate which robs shops around the country.

According to video footage, the robbers entered the shop situated at Nkoyoyo armed with a gun at around 2pm this past Sunday. Upon entry, it is said that one man drew a gun and pushed all the customers towards the shelves, forcing them to surrender their money and cellphones, little did they know that they were being captured by closed circuit television camera (CCTV). The video footage retrieved from the CCTV camera showed the men entering the shop as a group and one proceeded to the other side of the counter and demanded money and cellphones from the shop assistant. He was seen taking money from the cash register. At the time, his other colleagues forced the customers to surrender their money and gadgets.

Gun

The man on the other side of the counter was seen receiving a gun from one of his colleagues. He then cocked the gun before assaulting the shop assistant, while forcing him to show him all the money. The shop assistant was seen showing the gunman where the money was. The gunman who had already taken some money and the gadgets left the counter and joined his colleagues who were still busy robbing the other customers. At that time, the soldier who was identified as Coolio Dacosta based at Nsingizini Army Barrack had surrendered his bag with his bank cards, personal identity cards, cellphones and money to the robbers. Noted was that Dacosta was watching every step taken by the robbers.

He then unexpectedly pulled out a knife from his pocket and stabbed three of the robbers, starting with the one carrying the gun. Dacosta managed to grab the gun as the quartet competed for the entrance, in an effort to flee. During a visit to the shop, the situation was calm, though the employees were still traumatised.  The businessman who was with his countrymen confirmed the attack. However, he declined to comment further, stating that he was still waiting for the police. Dacosta who was injured and bleeding in the arm shared that he was at the shop to buy some stuff with his girlfriend when he was held hostage by the robbers. He stated that they robbed him of his bag, three cellphones, and one which he recently purchased for his girlfriend.

Dacosta said, allowing the men to do as they pleased would have meant he was not fit for his job after a hard training at Mbuluzi. “It would mean I am not a trained soldier. I cannot undergo hard training and allow robbers to do as they please. My intention was to deal with them after I had grabbed the gun. However, I discovered that it was a pellet gun when I cocked it. They will live to tell a tale for the rest of their lives,” he said. The soldier stated that the robbers were so confused that one even tried to hit him with a cardboard. It was gathered that the quartet drove a grey VW Polo, which was parked along the Mbabane -Ngwenya Freeway at Nkoyoyo adjacent to the shop. Police arrived shortly after and left with the soldier. Residents of the area shared that the quartet was allegedly the same that went around robbing shops in the country. Businesspeople operating shops at Nkoyoyo shared that the men met the description of the quartet that had been to their shops recently. It was gathered that one of the four men had been to the shop earlier on the day. Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed the incident. Vilakati said investigations were ongoing.

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