Tragedy struck yesterday at Ile-oluji, the headquarter of Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State as two old generation banks were attacked by armed robbers, killing four persons including two police officers. The Guardian gathered that the armed robbers invaded the banks at about 4:00p.m. shooting sporadically, with some of the stray bullets killing the victims.
Eyewitnesses revealed that the robbers forced their ways into the bank hall, using dynamite to break the security doors. They added that an undisclosed amount of money was carted away by the bandits. A group of local hunters had trailed them to arrest them after the incident.
A trader, Mrs. Remilekun Araola, revealed that the robbers gained entry into the bank through the use of dynamites. According to her, two policemen whose identities are yet known were part of those killed by the robbers. We have called the police to immediately report the robbery incident because it is like a war zone. They killed two policemen and two other traders who were close to the banks premises,” she said.
The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Femi Joseph, said he had not been briefed of the incident, but added that policemen had been deployed to the scene of the attack.
According to Joseph who spoke to The Guardian on telephone, “Our men are on the trail of the hoodlums. We would get them. They used dynamites to break into the banks. We are in touch with the banks’ management to ascertain how much was carted away.
“I am aware there are casualties but I cannot state the figures now because we are yet to confirm the number of casualties. The robbers have no hiding place because we will get them. Our men have been deployed to the scene to handle the situation and restore peace and order to the town.”
When spokesman of one of the financial institutions was contacted, he noted that their bank was not among. “Please get your information right, our bank was not attacked. What happened was that after leaving the first bank where they operated and moved to our bank, it had been deserted as they met no one,” he said. Spokesman of the second bank could not be reached as his phone rang severally without response.
