Facts are beginning to emerge on the recent armed robbery attack at a branch of the First City Monument Bank (FCMB), in Lekki Phase one area of Lagos State.
A competent Police source within the Lagos State Commissioner of Police (CP) Kayode Aderanti’s special squad tracking the fleeing robbers, said they are in possession of a juicy lead that would soon facilitate the arrest of the escaping men of the underworld.
The source added that footage from the Close Circuit Television (CCTV) attached to the bank and the one from the nearby private building were able to give Police a clearer view of who the robbers are. “I can tell you that soon, they would be our guests. Like the Commissioner of Police (CP) Lagos said, they can only run but cannot hide,” said the source.
He added that from the footages, the physical appearance of the leader of the gang, the very one that killed two of the Policemen, was once a guest of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) sometime last year, and we know him very well. He allegedly left robbery and went into driving of speedboats. “But after the robbery incident of that day, we dispatched our men to go and look for him, but he was nowhere to be found at his operational base at Liverpool Road, in Apapa side of Lagos.”
He added that checks in and around to figure out his whereabouts revealed that they have not seen him, two weeks before the armed robbery took place. It was also gathered that before he disappeared, he had bought two brand new speedboats. “The boats were just parked here, they were never used to convey passengers. He did not even allow the tarpaulin used in covering it to be removed from them. It was after the robbery, the following day that the boats were removed from where they were parked, and we have not also set our eyes on him since then.”
No fewer than three policemen and three civilians were shot dead by some dare devil gunmen who stormed the Lekki Phase 1 area of Lagos, where they robbed a branch of First City Monument Bank, FCMB.
The gang members dressed in military camouflage and numbering about 12, were said to have gained access to the bank using speedboats. They also used the same facility to cross the lagoon channel between Ikoyi and Lekki. “Once they alighted from their speedboats, the heavily armed gang, started shooting their ways into the bank, and allegedly made away with huge sums of money but not without some casualties,” said the Police spokesperson in Lagos, Kenneth Nwosu.
After the operation, which reportedly lasted just about 25minutes, they hit the road back to their speedboats. They were said to have released hails of bullet that killed three policemen, a member of staff of the bank, a nearby fish seller and a passerby.
However, the state Police Spokesman, Kenneth Nwosu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said the Commissioner of police has already swung into action in a bid to arrest the gunmen.
He said, “The Commissioner of police was there after the incident to ascertain what really happened. We are on top of it. But I can confirm that only three policemen were killed and no one else. The robbers attacked First City Monument Bank, Lekki. I can assure you that we would get the perpetrators. Full scale investigation has commenced”.
