Robbers Kill 3 Policemen, 2 Others

Hafiz Ringim, Police IG

Hafiz Ringim, Police IG

Armed robbers struck yesterday at an old generation bank in Ekpoma, Esan West Local  Government  in Edo State, during which they killed three policemen and two others.

Hafiz Ringim, Police IG

Among the five victims are the auditor of a bank and a vulcaniser. The robbers  stormed the bank situated at Isidahomen junction by Royal Market road, the economic  nerve centre of the university town.

The armed robbers were said to have stormed the bank at about 9.30 am. They also  shot the branch manager of the bank and he is said to be in critical condition.

A stray bullet was said to have hit a vulcaniser along the Benin-Auchi road after  the robbers had completed their operation and shot several times into the air  apparently to scare people away.

As a result of the incident, other banks in the entire town closed shop for several  hours.

Eye witnesses said the seven  robbers stormed the bank in a commando style, gained  entrance into the bank and carted away an undisclosed sum running into millions of  naira.

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They were said to have escaped through Opoji road and drove towards Agbor in Delta  State.

“You know that area is the commercial nerve centreof the town and when the robbers  stormed the area, there was pandemonium. The policemen tried to resist them that was  why they were shot. Of course, the robbers came with superior weapons and for  several hours after the incident business came to a halt in the whole area,”  an  eyewitness said.

However, efforts to get police reaction at the headquarters were unsuccessful as  the phone of the state police image maker, Peter Ogboi (ASP) was switched off.

However, a senior police officer confirmed the incident. “We were told that there  was a robbery incident in a bank in Ekpoma today and we lost three men in the  process,” he told P.M.NEWS.

Meanwhile, the police said they are on the trail of the robbers.

For sometime now the state has been enjoying relative peace but the latest incident  has shattered that peace.

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