Owan December thinz! Armed robbers numbering about 40 stormed four
commercial banks in the Agbara area of Ogun, close to Lagos, on Thursday
afternoon killing a nursing mother and two policemen, including a
corporal identified as Kadiri Aliyu.
The robbers stormed Bank Road, Agbara Estate, around 8.30am and
reportedly carted away millions of naira from Zenith Bank. It was learnt
that the robbers gained entry into the bank after blowing up the bank’s
rotor doors with dynamites.
According to PUNCH, the assailants who were clad in army and police
uniforms, sacked policemen inside an Armoured Personnel Carrier in the
area and shot sporadically, killing Corporal Aliyu.
They also robbed customers withdrawing money from the ATM.
Bullets were seen everywhere in the surroundings. The glass of the APC
and a billboard belonging to First Bank were bullet-ridden while the
rotor doors of Guaranty Trust Bank were destroyed by gunshots.
The robbers, however, failed to gain entry into GTB and First Bank.
An eyewitness, who identified himself only as Wahab, said the robbers loaded the money they stole from Zenith Bank in four cars.
He said, “I was looking at them from the company where I work while they packed money inside the cars.
They felt very confident. The policemen fled.”
A pregnant woman, who went to one of the banks to perform a transaction,
was shot in the leg while other customers were said to have sustained
gun injuries.
Sadly, it was learnt that a nursing mother, who was identified only as
Ope, and a woman were hit by bullets in a market along Ilashe Road,
where the robbers passed through to link the waterside they used as an
escape route.
An eyewitness said the pregnant woman was shot when she was caught looking at the robbers.
He said, “I had come to use Zenith Bank ATM when the robbers came.
It was as if I was at a war front. Some of them were on power bikes and they were shooting sporadically.
They shouted at us to lie face down. I think a woman was shot for
attempting to look at their faces. I am not sure whether she died or
not. They entered the bank. It was terrible.”
A security guard attached to one of the banks said the robbers operated
for about one hour 30 minutes, policemen and other security operatives
arrived at the bank 20 minutes after the robbers had left.
He said, “I witnessed the incident. It was God that saved me. Their bullets landed just beside me. They arrived at 8.14am. They were many and girls were among them. They were in army and police uniforms and some of them put on helmets.
“The policeman (Aliyu) was in mufti with a gun. He was going to buy food
when the robbers shot him dead. They thought he was coming for them.
“It was 20 minutes after they had left that policemen came. They also robbed a pastor that just withdrew money from our ATM. They only succeeded in Zenith Bank.”
Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, claimed only one policeman was killed.
“It was painful that one of the policemen at Zenith Bank was killed by
the robbers. But some of the robbers later escaped through the waterways
in one of the villages in the area.”
The robbers abandoned two vehicles at the scene but blew up one of them as they fled hurriedly.
