The Lagos State Police Command is on the trail of some gunmen who attacked a vehicle in the Amuwo Odofin area of the state and killed a police escort, identified only as Sergeant Musa.
The robbers were also said to have injured the driver of the vehicle and escaped with N3m.
They were returning from the bank when the gunmen ambushed them on Babangida Road, Amuwo Odofin, and opened fire on the car.
One Okoroafor, who drove the car, and the policeman, were shot by the assailants, while the third occupant of the vehicle escaped unhurt.
A source, who lives in the community, told our correspondent that the robbers had fled with the money before a police team arrived at the scene.
He said, “The attack happened on Tuesday, March 13. Their car was on Babangida Road that afternoon when the hoodlums, who were in another vehicle, intercepted them and shot continuously.
“The car was driven by a middle-aged man. There was an armed riot policeman and another man inside the car. Before the policeman could engage the robbers, he had been shot. The driver also sustained an injury. I heard the survivors saying that the robbers escaped with the N3m they collected at Zenith Bank.”
A police source also confirmed the attack.
He said the survivors were officials of a firm that dealt in plastic raw materials on the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway.
The source said, “The late cop was attached to the Police Mobile Force 20, Ikeja, from where he was posted to the company. The unhurt occupant of the car is the accountant of the company. The policeman had escorted them to Zenith Bank at Amuwo Odofin to withdraw N3m.
“They were on their way back to the company when the hoodlums attacked them. The policeman died at a private hospital in FESTAC.”
Another police source said the accountant and two officials of the bank were interrogated by the police in connection with the attack.
“There was a suspicion that the robbery was calculated given the fact that it happened in the daytime in a busy area like Amuwo Odofin. The police are seriously concerned about the incident and efforts have been intensified to bring all the perpetrators to book.
“The policeman’s rifle was recovered at the scene and his corpse was deposited in the Mainland General Hospital morgue for autopsy. Sergeant Musa was a very dedicated policeman. The police will use all the machinery at their disposal to bring the perpetrators to book.”
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Chike Oti, confirmed the robbery and the killing of the policeman. He said the robbers had been rounded up.
He said, “The robbers in that incident have been arrested and we have recovered the rifle of the policeman. The suspects are helping the police to track their fleeing member. We are closing in on him.”
On the bank officials, the PPRO said the police acted appropriately, saying, “without an insider, there won’t be an outsider. We will leave no stone unturned.”
Attempts to get the reaction of Zenith Bank proved abortive as calls put across to the telephone line of its Head of Corporate Communications, Victor Adoji, rang out.
He had also yet to reply to a text message sent to him as of press time.