By Patricia Uyeh

Reports reveal that it was chaotic at the popular Christmas Village in Calabar, Cross River on Christmas day as armed robbers robbed vendors and customers alike of their possessions. Popular musician, Kiss Daniel, was said to be on the stage performing when the robbers struck, shooting sporadically into the air. Though it has not been confirmed if there was any death, several persons were left injured and hospitalized.

According to the Guardian, a shop owner, who sold food at the village, Glory Akpan, said: “I was wounded. Some boys came into the village and tried to rob that guy, who sings “Oya talk to me o Mama” (Kiss Daniel), while he was performing. They threw bottles and other dangerous objects at him. They later brought out guns and began to shoot sporadically.”
She continued:

”The robbers attacked him and removed his clothes. They would have killed him. I don’t know how he survived that night.

“There were thousands of people in the Christmas Village and the situation caused pandemonium. They broke everything in my shop. They carried all my money and robbed many shops. Our chairs were broken. Everybody ran helter-skelter.

“Cars were smashed. They broke some cars to steal from them. At a point, the lights went off and I thought I was going to die. There were missing children and parents and kids ran in different directions.”

The Christmas Village, which is located in the Calabar Municipal Council grounds, witnessed panic as people ran helter skelter for safety from the armed robbers.