Yinka Kolawole
16 December 2008
Osogbo — Armed robbers seem to have moved their operations from Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, to Osun State, as 10 people lost their lives and another 30 were wounded yesterday during a robbery incident involving two banks and a micro-finance bank in Lagere area of Ile-Ife.
Eyewitness account revealed that the robbers gained entrance into one of the banks through the back door.
He said the robbery in the first bank went unnoticed as there were no shooting until the robbers got to the other bank and the micro-finance institution.
Not satisfied with the money they got from the first bank, the witness said, the robbers moved to another bank and the micro finance institution in the same vicinity.
He said the robbery, which took place simultaneously led to sporadic shooting into the air by the robbers to scare away people during the operation.
According to him, the police did not arrive the scene of the incident, which started around 12 noon, until the robbers had spent close to an hour.
The casualty figure, he said, comprised mostly customers of the banks who were caught in the crossfire.
In the shootout, one of the robbers were killed, while a policeman lost his life.
The robbers abandoned two Sport Utility Vans (SUVs) and took away their wounded colleagues.
As the robbery was in progress, shop owners in the area hurriedly closed their shops.
Speaking on the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state command, DSP Joshua Olayemi, who could not give the casualty figure, said the police would do everything at their disposal to fish out the armed robbers.
Olayemi said the police would get to the root of the matter soonest as the command would not hesitate to deal squarely with any ugly incident in the state particularly at this festive mood.
He urged members of the public to always cooperate with the police in giving useful information to the security agents in order to help in curbing crime in the state, adding that the robbers would be apprehended.
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