Posted by By CHRISTOPHER OJI and OLUWATOYOSI OGUNSEYE on
The police in Lagos were plunged into a mourning mood Monday, after daredevil bank robbers gunned down four cops in the Abule Egba area.
The police in Lagos were plunged into a mourning mood Monday, after daredevil bank robbers gunned down four cops in the Abule Egba area.
The slain cops, who were members of the State Anti-Robbery Squad were responding to a distress call at about 1.30a.m when they ran into an ambush laid by the gang of about 40 robbers that stormed Unity Bank branch at Abule Egba. The gang went away with two AK 47 rifles belonging to the slain cops.
The unfortunate policemen were moving to the scene in an unmarked Toyota car and they were all in mufti when they came under a volley of bullets. Out of the five cops in the car, only the driver survived. The dead were named as Inspector Dashe Danladi, Sgt Sylvester Ijegbai, Sgt Sabiu Abdullahi and Corporal Lawrence Aba.
Police sources told Daily Sun that the robbers who went away with about N16 million were monitoring the movement of the police team on walkie-talkie. They also raided a petrol station and eatery in the area.
Superintendent of Police, Mr Ghaji Abana who heads the Anti-Robbery section at the State Police Headquarters was in tears as senior officers met with the Commissioner of Police, Mr Emmanuel Adebayo over the attack.
Police spokesman, Mr Olubode Ojajuni, who confirmed the incident, told Daily Sun that the command was in a mourning mood, adding that the robbers would soon meet their waterloo.
Ojajuni who described the fallen policemen as gallant officers said that the Commissioner of Police (CP) Emmanuel Adebayo had ordered the monitoring units, Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) and the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to track down the fleeing robbers.
Following the incident, the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 2, Mr Adedayo Adeoye held a meeting with the CP and senior police officers in the state.
It was gathered that house breaking implements belonging to the robbers were recovered from the scene of the robbery.