Teenage girl leads four bank robberies, operates near police station for 2 hrs

*Police offer N5m reward for information on gang

A young lady today headed the robbery of four banks at the Ipakodo Ebute-Ogolonto area of Ikorodu, Lagos State, carting away millions of naira and inflicting gunshot injuries on many civilians. The banks are; Zenith bank, First bank and two Skye banks.

The lady, described as a female commando, was sighted, issuing orders to the men during the operations.

Angry eye witnesses said that the robbers operated for over two hours without receiving any challenge from the police. Worst, two of the bank robberies occurred opposite Ipakodo Police Station. The banks in front of the police station are Zenith and First banks.

The robbers, made up of 18 men and a lady were said to have arrived Ikorodu through a boat parked at Ebute waterways. They were armed with sophisticated guns and explosives.

 The robbers arrived the area around 8am and waited for the banks to begin operation. The robbers came through a boat parked at Ebute waterways armed with guns and explosives. After they were through with their operation, the set their three vehicles on fire, boarded speedboats and disappeared.

One of the residents spat: “It was after the robbers had operated for over two hours, cart away money and escaped through the lagoon that the police finally came. It was almost as if they were waiting for the robbers to rob and leave before they came.”

The bandits attacked three new generational banks and one old generational bank.

It was gathered that the attack which took place directly in front of Ipakodo Police station, caught the police, residents and banks unaware.

Although no life had been confirmed lost, but a good number of people were injured as a result of stampede and gun injuries. They were taken to hospitals and treated.

 The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Kayode Aderanti, who came to the scene after the robbery, drafted over 100 policemen, including officers from Anti-bomb Unit, Rapid Response Squad (RRS) and Ipakodo police officers to the scene. They were further ordered to cordon perimeters of the banks.

Another eye witness, a lady said: “The operation started around 8:30am. The robbers left many people injured as a result of pandemonium which ensured. I’m a school teacher at Junior Secondary School Majidun. I came to the bank around 8am to withdraw some money. It was not up till 30 minutes I left that the robbers, eight men and a lady came in three cars. The cars were a pathfinder, Nissan   and an infinity jeep. They opened fire all around the two banks in front of the police station. They also sprayed bullets at the entrance of the Ipakodo Police Station to scare police officers. They gained entry into the two banks without any confrontations. They blew open the doors leading into the banking halls. They attacked two banks simultaneously. After that, they went to other two banks.”

As heavy shootings rocked the area, commercial activities were abruptly halted. Shops were shut and buses reversed and cleared the roads.  

A vulcanizer, Uche said he was already at the shop when the robbers stormed the area.

He recounted: “They started spraying bullets at the entrance of the police station. The gunshots were intimidating. There was no way I could run out of the shop. All I did was to hide inside one of my tyres in my shop.”

A banker from one of the new generational banks, said: “All the money in the bank, running into millions were carted away!”

Aderanti said: “I got to know about this incident this morning. On the receipt of that, I called our operatives to come down to the scene. I am here with other service chiefs to have a joint coordinated approach to this incident and we are working together on it. We are very positive we are going to get to the root of the matter. Just give us time to go through it. We are still at the preliminary stage. We have accessed the banking hall. We are working seriously on it and we are going to address it.

“The timing and conduct of the men (police officers) are also going into investigation. We are going to a holistic look at the operation for these jetties; the vulnerability of our waterways and we are going to address it in a very comprehensive manner. Nobody died.”

The command’s spokesperson DSP Kenneth Nwosu said N5m would be given to any individual, who could avail the police with useful information to ensure the arrest of the gang.     

 “The command will reward anybody with useful information towards the arrest of the bank robbers with N5m,” he said.

Nwosu added that a press briefing to disclose further details of the attack would soon take place. His words: “The CP is already here to assess the robbery which took place on these banks early this morning. It’s already confirmed, but we are coming up with a press briefing on the outcome of our investigations soon.”