Residents, who witnessed the Monday attack
on First bank and Wema bank at Ikorodu, Lagos State, said that they saw the gunmen
blaring music from their cars and dancing in merriment because no police came
to challenge them.
A resident of the area, who
identified herself as Mama Maria, said gunshots rocked the area for more than 30
minutes as the operation was going on.
She said: “The robbers had a field
day! There were no policemen anywhere to challenge them. The robbers opened the
doors of their cars and started playing music. They shouted and danced before
leaving. They were not in a hurry. My house is very close to the bank. I watched
them from where I was hiding. They were celebrating while some of them were shooting to
scare people from drawing near.”
It was further gathered that after
the smoke from the guns of the bandits cleared, it was discovered that two
people were killed and 14 others seriously injured.
Further information says that two
women were among the gang of robbers.
The deceased, a truck driver and a
commercial bike rider were killed, while 14 residents sustained gunshot
injuries. The robbers attacked Firstbank and Wema bank.
Residents said that the robbers came
in two vehicles and attacked Firstbank located at Omitoro along Ijede,
Ikorodu road. The bank was attacked around 8am. They gained access into the
banking hall and allegedly escaped with huge amount of money.
It was learned that some minutes
after the bandits left the Firstbank, they made a beeline for the Wema bank,
located along the same road. They however could not break into the vault of Wema bank.
Before the robbers struck, they had
been lurking around the Firstbank premises since 6am. They however struck
around 8am, moments after the bank manager, Mr. Femi arrived. The gunmen
followed Femi as he entered the banking hall.
The bank staff and customers were held
hostage, while the robbers robbed the bank. They also robbed those who came to
cash and deposit money.
When the robbers could not break
into the vault of Wema bank, they had left, shooting sporadically and
making their way to the jetty, where they had left the speed boats that brought
them to Ikorodu.
The deceased truck driver, identified
as Femi was returning from the riverside, where he went to load sand when the
bullet got him.
Femi was buried yesterday at Igbogbo
Bayeku Cemetery. The deceased left behind 82-year-old father.
Mr. Taofeek Ajani, one of the
survivors of the attack, said: “It was Divine grace that saved me! I started running
immediately I heard that robbers were around. I was in my workshop, doing
some welding when someone called me on phone that I should run for my life.
He said that armed robber have taken over the whole community.
Immediately I dropped my phone, I left my shop, heading home. Before I could
make U turn to my street, I felt something hit my right leg. When I
felt it, I knew I had been shot. I managed to escape from the scene. It was
when I got to a private hospital in our community that I knew I was not the
only person shot by the robber. My injury was not severe as others; it was in
the hospital that I got to know that we were 14 people that sustained gunshot
wounds, while two people were shot dead!”
The robbers, who escaped through the
jetty, burnt two vehicles. They also destroyed a transformer that supplies light
to the community.
No comments:
Post a Comment