Robbers On Motorcycle Kill Bank Customer

Ekanem Moses

A bank customer, Alhaji  Abdulateef Popoola, has been killed by a gang of armed robbers who trailed him from a bank he went to withdraw money.

P.M.NEWS learnt that the victim, a retired soldier and treasurer of Ike-Oluwa Mosque along Abaranje Road, Ikotun, Lagos State, southwest Nigeria, was attacked by the six-man gang of robbers at 11.30 a.m. on Monday when he was returning from a branch of an old generation bank located along Ijegun Road at Tioluwani Bus Stop, Lagos after withdrawing N345,000 from the bank.

The robbers after killing the victim, escaped with the money meant to buy floor tiles for the mosque.

The victim was in company of his friend when the incident happened.

It was gathered that the victim, who was in his late 60s, and his friend had barely left the bank location when they were cornered at the junction of Dipo Oyebadejo Street by the armed robbers who were on two motorcycles.

According to a witness, the retired soldier put up a resistance when the robbers attempted to snatch the money from him.This angered the robbers who shot him on his left chest at a close range.  The victim was rushed by sympathizers to a nearby hospital at Awoyemi Street, a street behind the bank,  where he was pronounced dead.

The witness said:  “I was attending to my car which developed a minor fault when I heard some young men, about six of them, on two motor bicycles, arguing with the victim. Before I knew what was happening, I heard a gun shot which made me fled.  It was when I returned to the scene that I saw the retired soldier on the ground bleeding.”

The son of the victim, Kazeem, told P.M.NEWS that he was shocked when he heard that his father was attacked by robbers and had been rushed to the hospital.

Kazeem  who was at a political function when he was informed about the sad news, described his father as a man of integrity, peace loving and easy going.

The deceased has been buried according to Muslim rites at his residence at 189, Abaranje Road, Asalu Bus Stop, Ikotun, Lagos.

When our correspondent visited Isheri Oshun Divisional Police Headquarters, where the case was reported, the DPO of the station was not available for comment.