Bank robbers blow up door with dynamite, kill two policemen …cart away cash in Ondo

Two policemen were killed when suspected armed robbers attacked a branch of the Skye Bank Plc in Ifon, at the headquarters of the Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State.

The suspected robbers not only killed the policemen who were on duty, they also went away with an undisclosed sum of money.

An eyewitness told journalists that the hoodlums, numbering 15, stormed the premises of the bank around 3 p.m. when the bank had already stopped transaction.

The gunmen blew up the bullet-proof door of the bank with substance suspected to be dynamite before gaining entrance.

The eyewitness said on entering into the bank, some of the robbers packed all the money in the bank’s vault, others engaged the policemen in a gun duel outside the bank.

It was learnt that stray bullets of the suspected robbers killed a yet to be identified man at a medical clinic beside the bank

The eye witness said:  “They came in three vehicles. They were up to 15 in number and were heavily armed. When they got to the bank, they could not enter easily because the bank had stopped attending to customers. So they had to blow up the door up with dynamite. For several minutes, they shot everywhere. Two of the policemen that engaged them were killed, but none of the robbers was killed during the shooting.”

Another witness said it was when more policemen were deployed in the scene and engaged the robbers in shooting that the bandits ran away.

The two witnesses, however, said the incident put a halt to the social and commercial activities for almost an hour in the rustic town.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Femi Joseph, confirmed the incident. He said the command deployed more officers and men to the scene while another team lead by the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Gbenga Adeyanju, went to the scene immediately after receiving the information.

Joseph said: “It is unfortunate that we lost two of our men in the incident, but we are still on the trail of the robbers. They went to the bank with sophisticated weapons and, in spite of that, our men still engaged them. The CP himself led the team from Akure to the scene. It was when the robbers knew that we were closing in on them that they ran away with bullets wounds. We shall get them soonest because our men are still on their trail.”