Thursday, October 24, 2013

One killed, three injured as robbers attack bullion van

Juliana Francis
One was killed and three others injured, after daredevil robbers, attempted to highjack a bullion van at the Apapa area of Lagos State yesterday.
Eye witnesses said that the deceased was a member of the gang of robbers, while the injured three persons, included a military man. The casualty happened after the bandits engaged policemen in a gun duel at Apapa. The bullion van was carrying money, to a bank.
The bandits, who were said to be six in number and using a power motorbike, had immediately  started shooting as soon as they sighted the van Mobil Road .
The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Apapa Police Station, Mr.  Usman Ndababo who heard the sporadic gunshots, mobilized his men and traced the location where the gunshots were coming from.
Policemen met the robbers who had already over powered the men in the van and their escort.
The robbers on sighting the Policemen, tried to scare the police away by firing at them but the policemen fired back. Another eye witness said that the gun battle between the robbers and police, turned the area into a war zone, with the battle lasting over 45 minutes.
When the smoke settled, one of the robbers was dead, another arrested, while three other innocent persons including,  a military personnel were wounded.
An eyewitness,  Joshua Amajuonu  said that it was like war situation .
"I was on my way to the Office when I started hearing gunshot and people running for their lives .As I looked at my back,  I saw Policemen shooting and I had to run for my life, abandoning my car.
"Where I was hiding, I later saw some Policemen carrying some victims  away. Whether they were dead or alive, I can't say.”  According to him, the body of the bullion van was riddled with bullets.
Another eyewitness who simply identified himself as Jindu, said it was pandemonium as many vehicle owners abandoned their vehicles and shop owners closed their shed during the shootout.
He said many people were injured as the incident happened while people were going for their different business transactions.
 “I think many people were injured but I saw a man in Army camouflage. And four others being carried away by policemen."
A Police Officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity said. "We shot dead one of the suspected robbers and arrested one.”
The officer said the police also recovered two Ak47 rifles loaded with 30 rounds each and one of the motorcycles the robbers used during the operation.

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