See the Numbers of Policeman and Armed Robbers Killed in FCT Bank Robbery.
A bank robbery in Abaji Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja on Thursday resulted in the deaths of a Police Inspector and two armed robbers.
Enraged locals subsequently set one of the robbers’ corpses on fire.
According to a police officer, the robbery began around 5:30 PM when a group of armed men stormed a bank in Abaji town. Before targeting the bank, the robbers attacked a police station on Toto Road, where they shot and killed Police Inspector Abila.
The police officer reported that the robbers arrived in two unmarked vehicles and immediately began firing at the police station. “It is God who saved me because when the robbers alighted from the vehicles, they started shooting into the police station. While I managed to escape, an Inspector who had earlier escaped later turned back because they had shot him in the chest,” he said.
Witnesses reported that the gang then moved to the First Bank branch near the town roundabout and began shooting. A bank employee, speaking anonymously, said the robbers failed to access the bank’s strong room but did manage to steal some cash from the counter. The robbers also shot a security guard who had sought refuge in a toilet.
A combined force of police, soldiers, vigilantes, and hunters quickly mobilized to the scene, resulting in a fierce gunfight that left two robbers dead. An angry mob later took one of the bodies and set it ablaze.
FCT Police Commissioner CP Benneth Igweh arrived at the scene with other officers and confirmed the deaths of the two robbers in the shootout. He expressed condolences to the family of the fallen Police Inspector and commended the joint efforts of the security forces in thwarting the robbery. CP Igweh also noted that the Police Anti-Robbery Squad and hunters had been deployed to pursue the fleeing robbers.
