Robbers came to rob with sacks, collect victims’ shoes

*relaxed in victim’s home, drank wine

Lagosians heading to their different offices on Tuesday had to scamper to safety when four robbers, who had attacked Abule Onigbagbo Estate, off Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, had to shoot their way out to escape.

It was gathered that the robbers started shooting recklessly when they realized that policemen, who were shooting at them, were gaining grounds.

Before the gunfire ceased, one of the robbers had been shot dead, while a civilian sustained a gunshot wound.

When residents in the estate gathered to count their losses after the robbers had fled, it was discovered that the robbers came prepared with sacks, collecting shoes from homes they had attacked.

One Mr. Omololu, whose home was attacked,  opined that the bandits probably attacked the estate based on information, as they stormed the homes with bags with which they carted away stolen items; shoes, wrist watches, jewellery, money, laptops and other valuables.

 “It was at about 7:30am; four men knocked on the gate and told the security guards that they wanted to see my wife. They didn’t know the exact name of my wife. They then said they wanted to see the house girl. They told the security guard the name of the house girl. The security guard called the girl. As soon as the gate was opened, the men walked in.

“They tied up the security guard and then entered the main building. They knew where my wife worked and also asked for specific items. The robbers operated for a long while. They even sat down, relaxed and drank wine.

“One of the robbers carried one of the loaded bags filled with laptops, phones, money, shoes, jewellery and other items and took it outside.”

As soon as the robber carried the bags outside, he ran into a Man O war resident and a security guard. They apprehended him.

The robber, who had no weapon with him, was taken back to Omololu’s house.

Omololu said: “The robber, who carried the bag was not armed so the security guard was able to arrest him. When the other robbers saw that their colleague had been arrested, they started shooting into the air to scare off residents. In the process, the Man O War official was shot.”

The situation soon snowballs to ugly when policemen who heard the gunshots, stormed into the estate.

As the policemen exchanged gun fire with the robbers, bystanders and motorists were said to have scampered into different directions to avoid stray bullets.

The policemen were said to have killed an armed robber in the process but three robbers escaped.