Sunday bloody robbery attacks in Lagos: why police could not catch the robbers

Juliana Francis

On Sunday, a gang of armed robbers brazenly rocked the foundation of Lagos security, driving through the streets of Lagos State and shooting recklessly like they were in a Wild West American movie.

Their sophisticated looking guns smoked endlessly.  By the time the smoke from their guns cleared, three policemen were dead and about seven civilians injured. In fact, it was alleged that at least seven civilians were killed, including a child, but nobody official confirmation was received with respect to that figure.

The banks stormed Lagos in a Toyota Prado and an Armada jeep, streaking like lightening through several parts of the metropolis, including a Bureau de Change at Agege. At the Bureau De change, they were shot two of the staff and escaped with bags containing local and foreign currencies.

The robbers were believed to have been an eight-man-gang of robbers, comprising six men and two women. Police gave them chase thorough chase via patrol vans and helicopter, but all the police got for their pains, was death of three dead colleagues, who were mowed down at Oba Akra, Ikeja.

Why did the police failed to catch these bandits, in spite of all the amenities at their disposal and even the use of helicopter?

Robbers breached police Walkie-Talkie frequency: The bandits were able to escape because they gained access to police Walkie-Talkies and alertly monitored the instructions being issued by the police hierarchy. They were able to avoid all the points and channels, where they knew police would be waiting. How were they able to breach the police frequency?

A police source said: “Policemen on patrol duty should learn to be alert.  The policemen were killed at Oba Akran, Ikeja by the robbers and they took over these slain policemen radio. They were able to monitor every movement of the police. Catching them became very difficult. Every move police made, they were able to evade. In fact, they had on camouflage uniforms. When they heard on the radio that they were wearing camouflage uniforms, they pulled off the uniforms. How they disappeared, is still a mystery. But truly, with the radio, they were no stopping them. They knew our every move, our every plan.”

Police chasing robbers were confused due to no road block order: The Nigerian Compass also learnt that the policemen, who were supposed to pursue the bandits, were sort of confused.  The normal and apparent move would have been to mount road blocks in order to stop the gunmen and women careening to freedom, but they did not do this. They did not know whether to block the roads or not, since they feared and remembered that there was a standing order that there should be no road blocks. Another police source explained: “The policemen who were chasing the robbers, seemed not to know what to do. They were confused. They were confused because of the IG’s order that there should be no road blocks. There were no clear directives. But ordinarily, every policeman knows once you’re chasing a robber, the first thing to do is to block all exits. But they didn’t do this. This was part of the reason the robbers escaped.”

Police were too careful not to shoot civilians:  Almost every Inspector General of Police, past and present, had repeatedly told policemen that it was far better to allow a truck load of robbers to escape, than to kill one innocent civilian in the course of exchanging gun fire with the bad guys. This was definitely one of the reasons the bandits showed the police their back views and sped off to freedom. The robbers shot recklessly, killing and maiming civilians, who were unfortunate to be caught under their radar. But the policemen who were chasing them were too careful. They could not afford to shoot reckless, even though such shooting could have killed, maimed or injured one or two of the robbers, slowing them down. A police officer, who spoke with the Nigerian Compass, said: “When robbers are firing, they can fire anybody on sight, especially if police are pursuing them. That was what happened on that day. They just kept firing and shooting anybody but police could not respond in like manners.  Anybody can be the targets of the robbers, but police wanted the only targets to be the robbers. The police had to be careful in choosing their targets. He couldn’t just fire anyhow. Many people said the police were afraid and cowards on that day, but the truth were that they couldn’t afford to kill an innocent soul.”

Policemen were simply not on ground: stunning information that came to the fore was the unavailability of policemen on ground on that fateful day. A policeman told the Nigerian Compass that on the particular day in question, when a radio raised the anti-robbery squads to pursue, a certain team had only four men on ground!  It is no longer news that in many police commands and divisions, Sundays are seen as no working days for the police. There is usually a skeletal activity. In fact, the superior officers are hardly ever in their offices on such days. If they bother to come, they leave early. A handful of rank and files are often ordered to be on duty. This was part of what transpired last week Sunday.

Many policemen did not come to office; many went to churches, events or travelled. Short of its usual robust man power, the robbers practically came for a cocktail party and simply swaggered to their hideout with their loots.

“Most police people used to go to churches on Sundays, which was why the robbers picked that day! They know that a lot of policemen are hardly ever on duty. Policemen used to choose Sundays to travel. Some choose that day to stay at spend time with their families.”

Confusion over the authourity of Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC): It was learnt that when the robbers struck, policemen who were supposed to mount and navigate the APC waited endlessly for the commander of the Rapid Response Squad, Hakeem Odumosun to give the order, so that they could head towards any of the routes the robbers were streaking through, but the policemen waited in vain. When it dawned on the police hierarchy that the order was never going to come, the deputy commissioner of police, in charge of operations, gave the order, but by then, it was too late. The robbers were already singing and kissing farewell to Lagos. A police officer demanded angrily: “The question I keep asking myself is where Odumosun was? If he was around, why didn’t he order the APCs to move? Why! Why!”

To begin to write and argue that the Lagos State government had given a lot to Lagos command in terms of equipment to combat crime and criminalities, including robberies, is stating the obvious and belabouring the issue.

But a policeman says it all: “In all the states in Nigeria, Lagos State police command had received a lot of assistance from the state government. There is no reason not to be able to combat robberies. Personally, I think an order should be given that no policeman should stay at home on Saturdays or Sundays. These are days that clever robbers used to rob! Policemen who are on patrol duties should be retrained. Many of them don’t know that the first thing to do, while on patrol duty is to be at alert. Instead, you’ll find them sleeping on duty. They’ll wind up the windows of the patrol vans or even switch on the car air conditioner. They won’t shootings or noise. They end up being killed needlessly.”