Five Killed in Oyo Bank Raid

No fewer than five persons, including two traffic wardens, a customer of a first generation bank and two members of an armed robbery gang, were reportedly killed in Iseyin, Oyo State, on Wednesday when some robbers reportedly stormed the town.

The first generation bank, located at Owonikoko Junction in Oremoje area of the town was reportedly attacked by a gang of heavily armed men in the early hours of Wednesday. A mechanic was said to have been hit by the robbers’ bullet during the bank robbery.

The hoodlums were said to have stormed the ancient town shooting sporadically into the air in the early hour of the day.

The robbers, numbering about 11, were said to have forced their way into the bank and later blew off the security door with explosives suspected to be grenades.

The bank’s customers and the officials were reportedly held hostage throughout the period that the operation lasted.

The traffic officers that lost their lives during the incident were said to be carrying out their duty at a junction near the bank. The robbers were reportedly intercepted on their way to other banks in the neighbourhood. The police team, comprising men from the Oyo town Area Command, reportedly recovered one of the vehicles conveying the robbers.

An eyewitness (name not given) said those who were around the bank fled the area at the approach of the men of the underworld. Major streets in the town were reportedly deserted as the robbers moved from one bank to the other. The robbers, who reportedly stormed the bank in one Toyota Sienna and a Toyota Hiace bus, were said to have carted away unspecified amount of money from the bank while other banks in the neighbourhood were forced to close to business.

Acting Police Public Relations Officer, Oyo State Police Command, Mr. Daniel Oboyi, confirmed the incident, but said he could not confirm if the robbers succeeded in robbing the bank.

He said the robbers were repelled by a team of policemen in an APC.

Oboyi explained that the robbers decided to flee the bank when they were overpowered by the police, adding that they gunned down the traffic wardens in the course of fleeing from the bank.

Source: Punch