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•CLOCKWISE: The vehicles
set on fire by the robbers as they escaped from the crime scene... yesterday.
•One of the shops hit by stray bullets from the robbers’ guns... yesterday The
entrance to one of the banks ... yesterday.
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It was like a scene from an action-packed movie. A group of
people, among them a lady, shooting indiscriminately, their guns’ smoke
clouding the skyline.
Residents scampered indoors, banging their doors. Businesses closed hurriedly.
The scene was no movie,
it all happened in Ikorodu the outskirts of Lagos where robbers struck.
The robbers, armed with
sophisticated guns and explosives, hit two banks on Ipakodo Road, Ebute,
Ikorodu.
They escaped in a
speedboat on the lagoon after setting ablaze some vehicles, including the ones
that brought them.
The cash lost in the
early morning robbery could not be ascertained last night.
The Nation report continues:
Witnesses said the
robbers might have arrived at the vicinity of the banks at dawn and laid a siege
to the area, waiting for them to open for business.
They launched the attacks
simultaneously around 8:30am.
The robbers disarmed the
security men and made straight for the doors, which they blasted with
explosives.
While the operation was
going on inside, some of the robbers stood guard outside and intermittently
fired shots into the air to scare away people.
Witnesses said there was
heavy exchange of gun shots between the robbers and policemen who responded to
distress calls.
A witness, who runs a
business concern close to the banks, which are opposite a police station, said
at a point in the course of the operation, the robbers dared the police
to come out and face them.
There was pandemonium in
Ipakodo. Pedestrians scampered for safety. Motorists made U-turns to leave the
area.
The incident caused a
traffic gridlock at Ogolonto and on Beach Road as motorists changed routes to
escape from the troubled area.
It was gathered that some
pedestrians and customers were injured by stray bullets.
Commissioner of Police
Kayode Aderanti visited the robbery scene and met with operatives in the area.
He said the police had
launched “full scale investigation” into the robbery, with a view to arresting
the suspects.
He also said
investigation was on-going on last month’s robbery at another bank in Omitoro,
Ijede Road, in the same town.
Yesterday’s attack came
barely three weeks after the one at Ijede.
A police source said
yesterday that the robbers might have taken a cue from the bank robbery in
Lekki two months ago as the mode of operation was the same. Some of the
suspects in the Lekki robbery have been arrested by the police.
Lagos Police spokesman
Ken Nwosu, a Deputy Superintendent, said investigations had begun into the
robbery. He announced a N5 million reward for anyone with useful information on
the robbers.
He said: “At about 0830hrs
of June 24, some armed bandits numbering 10 stormed banks on Ipakodo Road,
Ikorodu and carted away unspecified amount of money.
“The armed bandits were
engaged by policemen mobilized to the scene forcing them to escape through the
Origin Jetty along Kosoko water.
“The command is taking
far reaching decisions towards tackling the menace of these hoodlums. Intensive
efforts towards rounding up these hoodlums are underway even as the CP assured
the banks of the Command’s resolve to ensure the safety of their operations in
Ikorodu and indeed the state.
“Three vehicles used by the
bandits got burnt under cross fire and empty shells were recovered.”
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