Police closing in on Agbara robbers after gang leader’s arrest
THE police are confident that they are closing in
on the remaining murderous armed robbers that
invaded Agbara Estate early on Thursday last
week after their leader was arrested at the
weekend in Sapele, Delta State. He was held at a
get-together where he was spending money
lavishly.
All of weekend, he was being
interrogated. Police sources said last
night that he had given them useful
information. The manner of his spending
attracted the police. In the encounter to
arrest him, one policeman was shot
dead, bringing to two the number of
policemen who have died from the
incident. Two others admitted at LUTH
were said to be responding to treatment.
One of the two was shot in the back
during the robbery. Police said three of
the robbers escaped with serious bullet
wounds and they are asking hospitals to
alert them in the event they show up
seeking medical attention.
Police had laid siege in Lagos believing
that the robbers who came using an
engine boat had been marooned on the
Atlantic Ocean. All through the afternoon
on Thursday, a police helicopter hovered
over the Estate and the ocean, in search
of the robbers. The robbers had plied
their boats through Ilase River, a
tributary of Ogun River which runs its
course on the eastern side of Agbara to
empty into the Atlantic Ocean, aborting
Agbara Estate, Ijanikin and Morogbo and
stretching its measureless expanse to the
historical town of Badagry.
The hustle and bustle which is a feature
of Bank Road in Agbara Estate has not,
as of the weekend, quite returned after
the armed men turned the road into a
theatre of war on Thursday. Police
sources said many of the banks will open
today, Monday. On Friday, practically all
of them shut their gates to customers.
Only their security men were at the gates
turning back customers.
Police sources said normally when there
is an incident of this nature, banks close
for a week to allow for thorough
investigation and see that the situation
has returned to normal and confidence
of the staff has been regained.
The robbers shattered the bustle when
they broke into Zenith Bank, a leading
new generation bank, carting away an
unspecified sum of money. They came
battle ready numbering about 45. Many
of them were in the familiar Army
camouflage uniform and police uniform
with one in a light blue Air Force rating
dress. A majority of the others wore
assorted T-shirts and tied black scarves
round their heads as well as black arm
band. Some strapped chain bullets on
their bodies. Those that approached the
bank disguised as customers, hiding
their weapons. And all of a sudden,
without warning, a cacophony of bullets
rang out in bursts of deafening gunfire.
A hail of bullets flew freely in all
directions, what many eyewitnesses
palpably shaken, described as an attack
better experienced than described. All
fled predictably in different directions
heading for nowhere in particular, for
safety.
Workers in offices instinctively dived for
cover, lying flat on the floor of their
offices. A lady working in one of the
companies said, “It was a war; I have
never seen a thing like this. They turned
this part of the Estate into a war zone.”
She went on, “When I say war, it was
war!”
A mobile policeman on duty at the bank
was shot dead. Two other regular
policemen were also shot, one in the
back and injured critically.
Police sources said they were responding
well to treatment. Several other people,
customers and passersby were shot
deliberately or hit by stray bullets. One
of these was an expectant mother shot in
the leg. Bullet holes dotted walls of
company buildings because the robbers
shot aimlessly even during their
confident, leisurely exit from the Estate,
putting four cars carrying their loot in
the middle of their procession, daring
whoever wished to face them. They shot
at the tyre of a police armoured
personnel carrier stationed to ward off
any such security challenge in the Estate
and its environs which police said they
used to battle them.
The robbers used what many believed to
be dynamite to tear down the
electronically powered glass entrance
door and the wall of the Zenith Bank.
The door of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB)
which the armed men also attempted
proved explosive-resistant and
indestructible. They left GTB, another
leading new generation bank, but not
without shattering its glass door, to
concentrate on Zenith Bank, obviously
their target in the first place.
On Friday, although practically all the
banks were closed, the PHCN offices
opened and several cars were parked in
front of the building. The commercial
motorcycle and tricycle operators were
also back at their beat.
The siege was the first ever in the 37
years of the high brow Estate inhabited
mostly by company executives and
university lecturers. It is normally a
serene leafy environment, a haven, with
lawns to sober the minds and refresh
tired bones after the day’s hardwork. It
is also renowned for giant trees which
birds naturally make their undisturbed
habitation. The most notable elite school
on the Estate is Corona which attracts
students from several parts of the
country.
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