Police to the rescue as robbers attempt to hijack bullion van

A suspected armed robber was shot dead and another arrested when policemen foiled an attempt to intercept a bullion van conveying money for a commercial bank in Apapa area of Lagos metropolis, yesterday. During the heavy gun duel between the robbers and the police, three persons including a military personnel were injured. Daily Sun gathered that the robbers, who were operating on three motorcycles (Okada) had opened fire on the bullion van at the Mobil Road. The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of the Area ‘B’ police station, Usman Ndababo, who heard the sound of the sporadic gunshots mobilised his men and started tracing the location where the gunshots were coming from and finally met the robbers, who had already over powered the men in the van and their escort. The robbers on sighting the policemen tried to scare the police away by firing at them but the policemen responded with fire. It was gathered that the hoodlums, who did not take the gallantry of the policemen lightly, turned the place into a war zone. The police and the robbers engaged themselves in a gun battle that lasted for about 30 minutes and when the smoke settled, one of the robbers was dead, another arrested while three other innocent persons including a military personnel sustained injuries and were rushed to the hospital. An eyewitness, Joshua Amajuonu, told Daily Sun that it was like a war situation. “I was on my way to the office when I heard gunshots and people ran for dear lives As I looked back, I saw policemen shooting, I had to run for my life and abandoned my car.” “Where I was hiding, I later saw some policemen carrying some victims away.Whether they were dead or alive, I can’t say. He said the bullion van, was riddled with bullets. Another eyewitness who simply identified himself as Jindu said it was pandemonium as many vehicle owners abandoned their vehicles while shop owners closed their sheds during the shootout. He said many people were injured as the incident happened while people were going for different business transactions. “I think many people were injured but I saw a man in Army camouflage and four others being carried away by policemen.” A Police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity said: “We shot dead one of the suspected robbers and arrested one. The officer said the police also recovered two Ak47 riffles loaded with 30 rounds each and one of the motorcyles they used during the operation. He said the robbers were attempting to hijack a bullion van when the police from Area ‘B’ command raced to the scene and engaged the robbers in a shootout. “I am happy that we killed one of the sons of the guns and arrested one alive, who we will use to get others now on the run. Some of the robbers escaped with bullet wounds