The fulfillment of the assurance
given by police authorities to arrest the perpetrators of the robbery incident
that cut short the lives of three policemen and three others in Lekki area of
Lagos last Thursday, though may serve as a form of succour to many Nigerians,
the bereaved families, particularly that of Inspector Bethel, indigene of Kwale
in Delta State and father of seven, will certainly need more to survive the
tragedy that hit them. More Sad Story After the Jump:
Two other policemen identified as
Sergeant George, an Urhobo also from Delta State and Corporal Ikechukwu, a
Benin man from Edo State.
Six persons including three mobile
policemen were killed and several others seriously injured during the incident
which happened on Lekki-Ikoyi Link bridge when the rampaging armed robbers
attacked a new generation bank.
Security sources told Sunday Sun that
the three policemen, contrary to earlier reports, were on the escort of some
expatriates from Victoria Island to the international airport in Ikeja when
they ran into the bandits who had stormed the bank for robbery operation.
Sunday Sun reliably gathered that the escort team decided to follow the
Lekki-Ikoyi link bridge because of the usual heavy traffic on Ozumba Mbadiwe
way with the lead driver who carried the foreigners on a Coaster bus leading
the way.
The team, it was learnt, ran into two
robbers who were in army camouflage uniform. They were brandishing a submachine
gun, which a source said uses ten magazines and an AK47 rifle which uses
double magazines.
The driver who had no inkling of the
danger lurking around was said to have continued with the journey without
taking any precautions. “When the entourage got to the second army check point,
which was around the FCMB bank being robbed at the time, there were many men in
camouflage on standby as if waiting for someone.
“They allowed the Coaster bus to pass
but immediately opened fire on the right side of the Hilux Van conveying the
police inspector, a Sergeant and a Corporal. The Police inspector who was the
leader of the escort and the corporal who sat directly behind him were hit by
bullets and died instantly.
“Then the first two men in
camouflage left behind began to shoot at the Hilux Van. The driver who is a
civilian stopped the vehicle, switched off the engine, got down of the truck,
raised his hands and ran for his dear life. The Sergeant on the other hand
realizing he had been over powered, got down from the truck without his
ammunition with his hands raised in the air and attempted to run away from the
vehicle. But the robbers opened rapid fire on him till they were sure he was
dead,” the source revealed.
Sunday Sun further learnt that the Coaster bus driver who saw another check
point ahead of him was quick to realize that the area was too hostile and
decided to slow down.
“One of the robbers fired at the bus
but at that point, two things happened simultaneously. The driver of the
Coaster bus stopped while a girl selling smoked fish who was running for her
life was hit by a bullet in her forehead which came out through the back and
damaged the right side of her head. She fell down in front of the Coaster bus
and died instantly. Another civilian was hit by a stray bullet.
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