Suspected robbers dig tunnel leading to banking hall

Police detectives attached to the Ondo State Police Command at the weekend discovered a tunnel leading to the banking hall of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Akure, the state capital.

A police detective said: “If we had not discovered this tunnel and the robbery had taken place, it would have been adjudged as the biggest robbery incident in Ondo State!”

The tunnel was dug from the fence of United Bank for Africa (UBA), leading into the banking hall, which would have made access into the bank easy.

The tunnel already linked into the premises of the bank, but had not quite close to the banking hall before police discovered it.

Another police source said: “The gang apparently planned to carry out the bank robbery operation during the weekend, when they were sure, bankers wouldn’t be around. The bankers would have resumed on Monday to discover that all the money in the vault had been carted away!”

It was gathered that the tunnel could take up to three persons at a time. Similarly, the back of the fence is an isolated area which would have made the suspects operated unhindered for hours.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr Mike Ogbodu, who confirmed the incident, said it was the banks’ surveillance squad that discovered the long tunnel behind the Ado/Owo Road branch of the bank.
His word: “The length of the tunnel, dug from the perimeter fence of the bank, into the premises, was about 10 to 15 meters. The tunnel was apparently prepared to serve as a passage into the bank premises to carry out their nefarious act without being noticed.”

Ogbodu further said that shovels, diggers and other tools used for digging were recovered from the scene. Biscuits, cans of soft drinks were also found in the tunnel.

The police chief added: “This is a new trend being employed by men of the underworld these days. Consequently, bank managements are advised to be conscious of the happenings in their environment. They should also endeavoured to always remove any barrier that could serve as cover for criminals.”

The police boss however said that a six-man armed robbery gang was arrested by the command. Ogbodu said that a truck, loaded with biscuits from Lagos was snatched by the gang and driven to unknown destination. He said the information received showed that the stolen goods were to be sold at Ore.
He added: “Two of the suspects, Celestine Okafor and Arinze Orji, were arrested. The two suspects arrested led to the arrest of others, including Uche Sunday, Chibueze Waribe, Obi Ikechuckwu and Kolawole Ipindemi. The stolen items were also recovered.”