Panic as police, robbers engage in gun duel

Policemen and the robbers’ vehicle

Panic gripped residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, on Thursday as policemen chased a gang of suspected armed robbers operating in two vehicles round the streets of the metropolis and engaged them in a gun duel.

Our correspondent gathered that the robbery suspects had stormed Abeokuta through the Adigbe-Obada-Oko route from the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway in a convoy of two vehicles – an unregistered white Ford bus and another unmarked sports car.

It was learnt that some residents alerted the police command to the presence of the robbers. The command sent its officers to search for them.

Riot policemen attached to the Armoured Personnel Carrier stationed at the Ibara area of the metropolis gave the gang of robbers a hot chase and eventually engaged them in a gun battle.

It was learnt that the robbers fled after a few minutes on seeing that a bullet had pierced one of the tyres of the Ford vehicle. The policemen, however, gave them a chase.

As the robbers and the policemen moved round the city exchanging fire, some of the residents fled the main roads, while some shop owners abandoned their wares.

But commercial motorcycle riders, popularly called okada, also joined the policemen and distracted the suspected robbers by throwing stones at the occupants of the vehicles.

The vehicle later stopped moving when it got to a school at the Pepsi Cola/Agbeloba area of the metropolis, which had been cordoned off by another set of policemen.

While some of the robbery suspects escaped in the sport’s car,  the policemen arrested one occupant of the unmarked white Ford bus.

The state command Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, who later arrived at the scene of the arrest, commended the policemen involved in chasing the suspected robbers.

Adejobi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, also attributed the success recorded by the police to the provision of equipment by the state government.

He said, “This is just the tip of the iceberg. The men came here to operate; we got information and our mobile policemen gave them a hot chase. We were able to get two of the suspected armed robbers, while some of them fled.”

He added that the policemen could have shot and killed some of the fleeing robbery suspects, but hesitated because the incident occurred in a school environment, where students were around to collect their report cards.

He said, “We have informed other neighbouring commands to be on the lookout so that they can arrest them.”

The PPRO also told newsmen that a team of police officers in the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, led by their leader, Ahmed Tijani, on Tuesday killed four armed robbers in their hideouts in Odan Abuja village, Igbesa area of the Ado – Odo/Ota Local Government Area.

Adejobi said the robbery suspects were among those who attacked officials of the Vigilance Services of Ogun State at the Onihale area, Ifo Local Government.

He said,  “The armed robbers, on sighting the police, opened fire and the police responded appropriately. Four of them died on the spot while some of them fled the area with bullet wounds. There was no arrest.”