No fewer than five persons were shot dead in Lagos on Thursday when a gang of armed robbers attacked the Union Bank branch at Fagba, Iju on the outskirts of Lagos.
Besides, the robbers reportedly shot the bank manager, when he allegedly refused to surrender the key to the bank�s vault to them.
Two policemen were confirmed killed in the operation, which began at Fagba and extended to the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.
Three other persons, a teenage girl, a vulcaniser and an unidentified man, were also shot dead during the rampage.
Minutes after the robbers had shot their way through and escaped, policemen were seen removing the corpses.
Unconfirmed reports said the bank manager had died, but the police said he was still in a hospital receiving treatment.
Efforts to see the manager at the Agege General Hospital, where he was first rushed to proved abortive as our correspondent was told that the man had been taken to another undisclosed hospital.
It was learnt that the robbers arrived at the bank in a jeep and a mini bus at about 9am and took everyone in the premises hostage.
The manager, however, became the first victim of the attack as he was shot during the process of getting access to the vault.
It was learnt that the robbers carted away a yet-to-be-ascertained amount of money from the bank, but the police said the robbery was foiled.
While on their way out of the bank, the robbers shot a police constable, who was one of the guards at the bank.
The robbers also fired gunshots at a police van they came across while trying to escape. A police inspector was killed in the van.
At Ile-Epo Bus Stop on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, the robbers ran into a traffic hiccup and in an attempt to scare motorists, they fired gunshots recklessly into the void and killed two persons in the process.
Many motorists abandoned their vehicles on the road and fled in different directions as the sound of the robbers� guns boomed.
The Commissioner, Lagos State Police Command, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, confirmed only the deaths of the two policemen.
Abubakar said he was impressed with a security action taken by the bank�s management, which led to the foiling of the robbery, but noted that he would not disclose the action.
Shource: The Punch