BENIN CITY — GUNMEN stormed a new generation bank inside the Edo state-owned Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, yesterday, at about 9.00 am, shot dead one of the staff, pumped bullets into four students and carted away cash said to run into millions of naira.
Edo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Paul Ochonu who confirmed the robbery in a chat with Vanguard said his men were on the trail of the bandits. According to him, “my men engaged them in a shoot-out about 30 kilometres to Benin City and some of them were riddled with bullet wounds but they were lucky to escape. I mean damn lucky because I did not plan that luck should smile on them when I set my men after them.”
An eye witness insisted, however, that a lecturer and three students were killed and that the entire place was sprayed with bullets but the Commissioner maintained that “the report available to me is that one of the bank’s staff was killed and four students injured.
“You know that policemen are not allowed inside the campus except something is wrong, I think the robbers capitalized on that situation to go in and rob the bank”, he added.
It was learnt that the bank staff and the injured students were shot by the robbers because they attempted to frustrate their operation.
Vanguard learnt that the armed robbers who came prepared for the operation, shot sporadically into the air to scare the people away as they arrived the bank’s premises at about 9.00 am in two vehicles.
In a commando-like operation, they cordoned off the entire bank and customers that they met and led the bank’s officials to the strong-room which they opened and helped themselves to the money kept there.
They reportedly sprayed money on the students as they fled the scene after the robbery but the entire university community was thrown into confusion as soon as they departed.
The school authorities were worried as to how the bandits beat the security check at the gate and the security personnel on duty were already answering questions from the police.
The Police Commissioner told Vanguard yesterday that the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) for the area would have been able to nab the robbers if he got information about their operation early enough, saying that some staffers of the bank called him in Benin City while the robbers were still at the bank because they could not get the DPO.
“I had to call the DPO to tell him what was happening in his area before he was able to send his men there but by the time they got there, the robbers had escaped. But my instruction is that they must get the bandits, so they had to chase them and that was what led to the shoot-out. I am sure we will get them”, he said.
