Fourteen people were killed on Thursday in different parts of the country as police and armed robbers engaged in gun duels.
It was not a lucky day for the robbers in Lagos as four of them were brutally killed and five arrested during a robbery at a branch of the Wema Bank at Adealu area of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.
But in Enugu, some daredevil armed robbers attacked two bullion vans on Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, killing four policemen and two civilians.
The story was also pathetic in Imo State where rampaging robbers ambushed and killed four policemen of the Federal Highway Patrol on duty on Okigwe-Enugu Expressway.
In the Lagos incident, the Iyana-Ipaja area of the city was in turmoil for several hours when an 18-man gang besieged the Wema Bank.
The stretch of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway from Iyana-Ipaja to Mangoro became a battlefield of sorts for the robbers and policemen.
Incidentally, the robbery was happening simultaneously as the Lagos police boss, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, was parading 29 other robbery suspects arrested within the week.
The robbers stormed the bank at about 11am in an 18-seater bus after snatching four vehicles, including a Toyota Camry and a Golf cars, in readiness for their escape.
Our correspondent learnt that while a group was outside for surveillance, other members of the gang moved into the banking hall and asked everybody to �freeze.�
It was learnt that the robbers manhandled the bank manager when it appeared to them that he was delaying in giving them access to the vault.
Within a few minutes, the robbers had succeeded in sweeping unspecified millions of naira from the bank after disarming the mobile policemen on guard.
The Bank manager, however, claimed that the money stolen by the robbers was not substantial as they were unable to access the vault.
As the robbery was in progress, our correspondents learnt, the police were alerted and the commissioner directed that the Armoured Personnel Carrier stationed some 1,000 metres away from the scene.
Other police teams from MOPOL 20 and 22, GRA, Ikeja, also joined their colleagues in the APC. The Commander, Area �G� Command, Ogba, Mr. Mobolaji Odusanya, an assistant commissioner of police, led the teams to the scene.
Odusanya said the robbers scaled the fence in an attempt to escape from the police and ran in different directions.
When the police got to the scene, it was learnt that the robbers were packing their loot into a golf car, which they had earlier snatched.
A fierce gun battle ensued between the police and some of the robbers. It was learnt that another team of policemen pursued the other robbers who had disappeared into the neighbourhood.
One of the robbers allegedly jumped into a water tank where he hid himself with his AK-47 rifle.
Unfortunately for him, he had been sighted by a policeman when he entered the tank. Policemen later came to the tank and fired several gunshots into it.
The suspect�s legs were shattered with bullets before he was bundled out of the tank and driven to the police headquarters in GRA, Ikeja.
In another attempt to escape, one of the robbers was said to have run into a nearby primary school and threw the premises into confusion when policemen pursued him into the compound.
Our correspondent learnt that members of the Oodua Peoples Congress in the area complemented the police�s effort by giving the security men hints about the whereabouts of the fleeing robbers.
By 1pm, the first group of police team arrived at the command headquarters with one dead robber and two others who were arrested alive.
Subsequently, three other suspects were brought in dead, while three others came in with minor injuries.
Five AK-47 rifles, including one police rifle and another pump action gun, were recovered from the robbers.
A man, who was shot in the stomach and was later identified by a security man as an innocent person, was rushed to an undisclosed hospital.
One of the dead robbers was brought in naked but still had an amulet tied round his waist. Bullet had created a big hole in his skull.
The police headquarters immediately became a beehive of activities as the policemen involved in the operation were given a pat on the back by the commissioner.
Abubakar said, �Can you see what these people (robbers) are capable of doing now? Imagine someone facing another person with these types of guns.
�These people are heartless. They even use police rifles. Our men actually gave them a big fight. The robbers got the money but we recovered everything from them.�
In Enugu, the policemen were on patrol duty at Ihube junction on Okigwe-Enugu Expressway on Thursday morning when they encounterd robbers who had laid ambush for them. The robbers killed all the four occupants of the vehicle.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Linus Nwaiwu, who confirmed the development to our correspondent, said that the robbers sprayed the vehicle in which the policemen were patrolling, with bullets killing all of them. Their AK-47 rifles were also taken away.
In a related development, daredevil armed robbers stormed a branch of the First Bank Nigeria Limited at Amaraku junction, Isiala/Mbano Local Government Area and carted away an undisclosed amount of money.
Our correspondent gathered that the robbers gained entry into the bank after overpowering the security men and made away with money in seven �Ghana must go� bags.
Nwaiwu confirmed the robbery but could not give details of the incident as he was not in his office.
The Enugu-Onitsha Expressway incident occurred around the Umumba end of the expressway, a known black spot for robbery.
The robbers were said to have set one of the bullion vans ablaze when they could not break its safe while they made away with an unknown amount of money from the other one.
The men also shot a petrol station attendant who refused to dispense fuel to them some kilometres from the robbery scene.
The bullion vans were said to have left Enugu for Awka, Anambra State capital, when they were intercepted by the heavily armed robbers who were reportedly dressed in Army and police uniforms.
It was learnt that the robbers, who were in three Mitsubishi buses, trailed the bullion vans to Umumba and attacked the occupants.
The rampaging bandits also attacked policemen at a checkpoint where they killed two officers and wounded others around Achi town, on Old Onitsha Road.
The Enugu State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Mike Abattam, who confirmed the incident on Thursday added that one of the robbers was arrested. He added that detectives were on the trail of the others.
He said that two of the vehicles used by the robbers had been recovered by policemen who gave the robbers �a hot chase.�