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New Page 9
Again, gunmen rob bullion van in
Kwara, kill 16
JIDE BAKARE,
Ilorin
AT least 16 persons, four of them
policemen, were shot dead by armed robbers who attacked a cash-laden bullion van
in Kwara State on Tuesday.
The incident occurred at a location close to Omu-Aran, along
the Ilorin-Omu-Aran-Lokoja road.
According to an eye witness, apart from
the four policemen, others killed in the attack included two officials of a
first generation bank in Ilorin (names withheld) and 10 other people going about
their businesses around the scene of the incident who were hit by bullets.
It was gathered that the seven-man robbery
gang in two BMW cars intercepted the bullion van which was carrying money from
the Ilorin branch of the bank to some of its branches in Kogi State.
The robbers, who were in two teams,
reportedly stationed four of their members who laid ambush at the spot of the
robbery while the other three occupying another BMW car trailed the bullion van
to the spot.
Daily Champion
further gathered that when the bullion van arrived the spot where four of the
robbers laid ambush, they opened fire on the vehicle, killing all the occupants
including two bank officials.
The sources said the robbers in the other
BMW car trailing the bullion van on getting to a police checkpoint on the Ilorin
Omu-Aran-Lokoja road informed the policemen there that they had just escaped
being robbed.
It was learnt that based on the
information, the policemen patrol vehicle began and moving towards the direction
of the scene of the robbery, but along the way, they were fired upon by their
supposed genuine informants, the four policemen in the vehicle.
The account stated further that having
succeeded in their operation, the robbers began to shoot indiscriminately into
the area, following which 10 commuters were hit by bullets and killed.
The total amount of money contained in the
bullion van could not be ascertained as at press time.
A police officer informed Daily
Champion that the corpses of the four policemen and some civilians were
brought to the commands headquarters in Ilorin on Tuesday evening, adding that
the corpses had since been deposited at the mortuary of the University of Ilorin
Teaching hospital (UITH).
It would be recalled that last year, along
the same road, a gang of armed robbers snatched about N15 million from a first
generation.
State Police Commissioner, Mr. Muhammed
Abubakar confirmed the robbery incident to newsmen in Ilorin although he said he
was yet to get details of the attack.
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