Police smash bank robbery gang
• 1 killed, Army sentry, 9 others arrested
By CHRIS ANUCHA and JULIANA FRANCIS
Friday, June 15, 2007


More Stories on This Section

A gang of armed robbers, led by a man, who identified himself as a sentry at 2 Division, Nigerian Army, Ibadan, was smashed in Lagos yesterday.
A member of the 11-man gang was shot dead as the robbers engaged the police in a shoot-out that lasted for about 30 minutes at the Iyana Ipaja area of Lagos.

Some of the suspects identified themselves as soldiers and Air Force men. The police told Daily Sun that the gang was out to rob a bank, adding that they have had some successful operations in the past few months in Lagos and the police had been on their trail.

Weapons recovered from the gang include gas cylinders, arms and ammunition and some housebreaking equipment, like cutters, pliers, among others. All these were found in the bus that was conveying the suspects. When the arrested members of the gang, who were carrying bullet wounds were brought to the Police Headquarters in Ikeja, they told Daily Sun that they were going to Akure in Ondo State to rob a bank.

The member of the gang, who identified himself as a soldier gave his name as Onwunyi Sunday, a Delta State indigene.
The Commissioner of Police in Lagos, Mr Bashiru Azeez said his men had been gathering intelligence reports on the gang for sometime.
“This is just the beginning of the war against armed robbers in Lagos State,” he said, adding that the police had also arrived at a solution to other forms of highway robberies in the state.