What happened to former national security minister Martin Joseph was unfortunate but it is a fact of life in Trinidad and Tobago.

That was the view of a few residents of Flagstaff, Long Circular, where Joseph was tied up and robbed by an armed bandit on Sunday night.

Joseph's stepson's car was stolen during the robbery.

Officers of the St Clair Police Station have since interviewed the young man. No arrest was made up to last night.

The Express visited Flagstaff yesterday in an attempt to speak to Joseph directly. He reportedly lives in one of the first wave of townhouses that was constructed in Flagstaff back in the early 1980s.

The main gate was manned by two security officers who were strict in not allowing entry until one's identification card or driver's permit was handed over and examined.

One resident who did not want to be named told the Express that "our community is much a part of Trinidad and Tobago as everywhere else and yes we do have break-ins as well".

"In fact we have had a couple over the years but I cannot tell you exactly when they happened," he added.

He also said there were regular mobile and foot patrols by their security officers on a two-hour basis.

"Sometimes you see them walking through the compound, sometimes they drive but what you have to remember, this is a large compound with lots of corners so a bandit may be in someone's garden bushes and he may not be seen," said the resident.

The Express was pointed to an area where Joseph's townhouse was said to be located. A female resident later approached the Express but when asked for the location of the townhouse she refused to answer.

The Express also knocked on what was said to be Joseph's front door but got no answer.

Joseph, who served as national security minister from 2003 to 2007, then from 2007 to 2010, said in a statement issued to the media on Monday that he was at home when the bandit struck.

Joseph said: "Around 11.30 p.m. on Sunday, July 22, I was at my home at Flagstaff, Long Circular, when my stepson entered the house. I noticed that a masked man armed with a gun had followed him into the house.

"Upon entering the house, the man announced a robbery and proceeded to hog-tie my stepson. There was a short confrontation between the gunman and as I tried to wrestle the gun away from his hands, I too was hog-tied as the bandit proceeded to rob me and others in the house."

Joseph said he was then able to untie himself and later ran outside and alerted security about what happened.