The Mozambican police said on Friday that they are hunting two armed men who raided a central Maputo branch of the Nigerian United Bank for Africa (UBA) and stole 2.8 million meticais (about 100,000 U.S. dollars) on Tuesday. Arnaldo Chefo, spokesperson for Maputo city police command, told Xinhua that a manhunt was launched to trace the suspects.
The robbery occurred at about 14:30 on Tuesday, when the two people, pretending to be clients, entered the bank and claimed they wanted to open a foreign currency account. One of the suspects pulled out a pistol and demanded that the manager opened the bank safe after which two grabbed 2.8 million meticais, 4, 800 euros and 14,300 South African rands, Chefo said.
It is not the first time that the bank has been robbed. It is sometimes believed robbers operate with security guards at the banks in Mozambique. Deputy Interior Minister Jose Mandra has warned security men who collaborate with the criminals to be severely punished and sacked from the police ranks.