More facts emerged about the operations of the bandits who invaded a bank in Ilara-Mokin in Ifedore Local Government Area of Ondo State, on Thursday afternoon, where three people including a journalist were killed.
Commercial and social activities were at a lower ebb in the town as shops and other business centres around the bank were closed for business.
A resident of the community revealed that the armed robbers that stormed the bank during the daylight operation, carted away money from the bank’s vault and stole from the customers.
A commercial motorcyclist, who escaped being hit by bullets when the 15 man gang invaded the bank, said the armed men announced their arrival with heavy gunshots before breaking the bulletproof door with dynamite.
According to him, the robbers positioned themselves in strategic locations, killing one of the policemen on duty immediately after they started operation while the other one escaped and hid in a building close to the bank.
He said, “this is the second attack on the bank, the first attack was in 2008, a policeman was killed then.”
He said the robbers also hijacked a bus belonging to a baker, Fortunate Butter bread and used the bus to escape from the scene after throwing out all the bread.
Another witness who was inside the banking hall said the robbers were disappointed to meet only N2m in the bank’s vault and they had to attack the ATM machine too.
He, however, lamented that the robbers had a successful operation because the police station in the locality had no operational vehicle and was low on other logistics.
Other witnesses said a staff of the Elizade University, Mr Bunmi Afuye, who was on his way to the office was shot by the robbers as refused to heed to warning to stop while driving to work.
“We waved at him to stop but he didn’t listen. He had an earpiece on his ears and had his cars windows rolled up. He drove into the robbers and they shot him in the head.”
A community leader, Fapounda Fisayo, said all efforts by the youths to stop the robbers failed due to sporadic shooting.
“It was not the police that killed the okada man but the youths wanted to burn the police station. They forgot most things here were done by the community and other individuals. The youths should know that burning police station is not the solution.”
When our reporter visited the scene of the incident, policemen from the anti-bomb squad were seen moving from one place to another to ensure that there are no other unexploded devices.
The Ondo Police spokesman, ASP Tee-Leo Ikoro, said policemen from the command are on the trail of the robbers, saying the robbers appeared to know the terrain by escaping through the forest.
He said the robbers who used sophisticated weapons and carefully planned the operation and would be arrested soon
The Ondo Police spokesman warned youths against attacking police facilities in case of future occurrence.
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