12 Killed In Daylight Bank Robbery In Lagos Kayode Akinmade, Olalekan Olabulo and Tunde Busari
Saturday, August 18, 2007

Twelve people, including two policemen, were reportedly killed while several others sustained injuries on Friday when armed robbers attacked a branch of First Bank at Ketu, Kosofe Local Government Area of Lagos State.

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According to an eyewitness who is a policeman, the incident happened at about 12 pm and threw the entire area into chaos.

A member of the robbery gang was also reportedly killed in the operation in which the robbers carted away a yet-to-be-ascertained amount of money in their get away vehicle.

The money was reportedly statched in three Ghana Must Go bags. The armed robbers were said to have robbed the bank in a commando style as they fired indiscriminately.

In the process, three policemen on guard at the bank and an adjoining bank were killed.

One of the civilians killed was said to be coming out from a drycleaner’s shop. An irate mob torched the Kosofe Police Post to protest the killings.

Reacting, the Lagos State Governor, Mr, Raji Fashola, vowed that his administration would do everything possible to combat armed robbery, adding that positive steps had been taken towards achieving the desired result.

Fashola said the families of the slain policemen would be adequately compensated.

The bodies of the victims had been deposited at various mortuaries in Ikeja and Lagos Island, while those that sustained injuries were receiving medical attention as at press time on Friday.

One of the dead policemen, whose body was conveyed to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, in a police van with Lagos registration PF 5423, was identified as Sergeant Elisha Maneh of the Mobile Police 20 Unit.

Fashola, who was at the hospital to see the remains of the deceased. The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Bode Ojajuni, when contacted on the telephone, confirmed the robbery incident.

Ojajuni, who said investigation had commenced, lamented the loss of some police officers.

Ojajuni could not confirm the actual number of casualties as at the time of filling this report on Friday. He said he was yet to receive the full report.

He promised that the state police command would evolve better strategies to address cases of armed robbery.