Residents, who witnessed the Monday attack on two commercial banks at Ikorodu, Lagos State, said that the gunmen played music from their cars and danced in merriment because no police came to challenge them.
A resident, who identified herself as Mama Maria, said gunshots rocked the area for more than 30 minutes as the operation was going on. She said: “The robbers had a field day. There were no policemen anywhere to challenge them.
The robbers opened the doors of their cars and started playing music. They shouted and danced before leaving. “They were not in a hurry. My house is very close to the bank. I watched them from where I was hiding.
They were celebrating while some of them were shooting to scare people from drawing near.” It was further gathered that after the smoke from the guns of the bandits cleared, it was discovered that two people were killed and 14 others seriously injured. Witnesses added that two women were among the robbers.
A truck driver and a commercial motorcyclist were killed, while 14 residents sustained gunshot injuries. The robbers attacked two first generation banks. Residents said that the robbers came in two vehicles and attacked one of the banks located at Omitoro around Ijede on Ikorodu Road. The bank was attacked around 8am. They gained access into the banking hall and allegedly escaped with huge amount of money.
It was learnt that a few minutes later, the bandits went to the second bank, located on the same road. They, however, could not break into the vault of the second bank. Before the robbers struck, they had been lurking around the first bank premises since 6am.
They however, struck around 8am, moments after the bank manager, identified as Mr Femi, arrived. The gunmen followed Femi as he entered the banking hall. The bank staff and customers were held hostage, while the robbers robbed the bank.
They also robbed those who came to cash and deposit money. When the robbers could not break into the vault of the second bank, they left, shooting sporadically and making their way to the jetty, where they had left the speed boats that brought them to Ikorodu.
The deceased truck driver, identified as Femi, was returning from the riverside, where he went to load sand when the bullet got him. Femi was buried yesterday at Igbogbo Bayeku Cemetery.
The deceased left behind 82-year-old father. Mr. Taofeek Ajani, one of the survivors of the attack, said: “It was divine grace that saved me. I started running immediately I heard that robbers were around. I was in my workshop, doing some welding when someone called me on the phone that I should run for my life. He said that armed robbers had taken over the whole community. “Immediately I dropped my phone, I left my shop, heading home.
Before I could make ‘U’ turn to my street, I felt something hit my right leg. When I felt it, I knew I had been shot. I managed to escape from the scene. “It was when I got to a private hospital in our community that I knew I was not the only person shot by the robbers. My injury was not severe as others; it was in the hospital that I got to know that we were 14 people that sustained gunshot wounds, while two people were shot dead.”
The robbers, who escaped through the jetty, burnt two vehicles. They also destroyed a transformer that supplies light to the community.
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