Bloody Thursday in Ibadan As Armed Robbers Hijack Bullion Van, Kill two

……As commissioner of Police denies police officer was killed

By Ogundele Olanrewaju

It was a was a bloody scene and black day at the Idi Ape – Iwo Road area of Ibadan, Oyo State , yesterday, when armed robbers attacked bullion vans conveying money.

The 10-minute gun duel between the police and the armed robbbers occurred around 1:00 p.m.

According to an eyewitness, the unfortunate incident claimed the lives of some passers-by.

The men of underworld, who were masked, unleashed death on some officers of Oyo State Police Command, leading to the reported death of three officers and one female student returning from school.

Many passers-by, including a motorcyclist, were also injured motorcyclist injured.

Blood stains were everywhere, two vans riddled with bullets and shattered glasses, burst tired and totally wreaked police cars.

According to the eyewitness account, the masked men followed the van from Iwo road to Mary Hill junction road leading to Nigerian Army Officers’ Mess road and the final battle took place there with the bullion vans riddled with bullets allegedly making away with the money.

Officers and men of Nigerian Army, Amotekun corps, the Police and others were on ground to maintain law and order in the area.

The state’s Commissioner of Police, CP Ngozi Onadeko and the Special Adviser to the Oyo State Governor on Security Matters, Mr. Fatai Owoseni also visited the scene.

Speaking with journalists, CP Onadeko however said no police officer was killed. According to her, one armed robber was killed while two police officers were shot in the leg.

The CP said: “You can see the Amotekun, the police men, everyone is here working hand in hand so that we can get the people involved and get the root of what has happened today

“I will give more information on this when we finally get the details of what actually happened. One of the police men on excort with the bullion van shot dead one of the robbers and they carried the robber that was shot with them.

“First of all I have to say it is an unfortunate incident, we just finished the retreat and I am coming from the airport directly here. It was a coordinated attack but we are still trying to find out what actually happened because they trailed the bullion van from where it took the money from and where it want to dispense it, we could see the shot they made, they were indeed prepared.

“We can’t actually say what went wrong now l, all the exit and borders that lead to Oyo State have all been blocked. So, we are trying our possible best to get them to know what actually happened.

“Nobody was killed as of now , and in fact, I can’t really say anything now because I am still trying to assess the situation and to find out what actually happened but I can tell you sure that two of my men were shot on leg. Let’s just do our investigation and then we will be able to tell you and give you more details”.

End