Over 10 people sustained various degrees of injuries in Lagos yesterday due to stampede caused by a shootout between the police and armed robbers who attempted to rob a new generation bank in Ogudu area of the state.
LEADERSHIP gathered that the dare devil robbers who were fully kitted in army uniforms attacked banks and establishments in Ilaro area of Ogun State and were later given a hot chase by the police who got wind of their operation.
According to the Police Public Relations Officer in Lagos state, Samuel Jinadu, a superintendent, who confirmed the robbery incidents said that the police operatives in Ogun sent radio message to their counterparts in Lagos, informing them that they were on the trail of some robbers who escaped through Sagamu road.
He said that as soon as the police who had ambushed the robbers saw them, the robbers opened fire on the police in Ojota axis of the state.
The police spokesman said the incident unfortunately coincided with another robbery attempt on a new generation bank in Ogudu area that was also foiled by the police.
In the ensuing melee, he said, the robbers in their bid to escape, engaged the police in fierce gun battle shooting sporadically to scare people off their way.
This stampede, he said, led to the confusion, in which lots of people were injured.
Another motorist who spoke with our correspondent said, “my brother, it was war between the robbers and the police. Everybody abandoned their vehicles and started running in different directions. We thought it was a fight between the police and army officers until they said they were armed robbers who were being pursued by the police and those that were also trying to rob Former Bank PHB in Ogudu.”
There had been upsurge in crime rate in Lagos State in recent times prompting the Lagos police command to read a riot act to the robbers terrorising the state.
The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Yakub Alkhali had before now urged the robbers to relocate from the state or face the full wrath of police operations.
To tackle the problem, he said, the state security chiefs had decided to be holding security meetings weekly to effectively tackle the problem and create a more conducive environment for residents of the state.
He said government has beefed up its security meetings as part of efforts to check the rising wave of crime that has made so many residents jittery.
“Formerly the meeting is schedule once in a month but because we want to give residents of Lagos State a more conducive environment where they can do their business without any hitch, we decided to schedule the meeting on a weekly basis,” he said.
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