News Obiaks News

No fewer than forty heavily armed robbers, yesterday morning, invaded two second generation banks in 4th Avenue, Festac area of Lagos state and carted away huge sums of money.  During the operation which lasted hours, a two-year-old toddler, Mmesoma Ndirika, and her mother, Jane, who were inside their apartment in an adjoining building, were reportedly hit by stray bullets from the bandits who were shooting sporadically in all directions.

Late Jane and her child

Reports said both mother and child later died as a result of injuries they sustained from the bullet. A commercial motorcyclist who was also hit by stray bullets reportedly died later in an undisclosed private hospital. It took the Police more than one and half hours to respond.

However, police authorities said they were able to recover about N27 million and other rounds of arms and ammunition abandoned by the bandits while fleeing from the scene. They could not  give specific figure of casualties.

Reports said the bandits who were dressed in military camouflage uniforms, attacked the banks after alighting from boats at a nearby canal. They reportedly used dynamite to destroy the security entrance gates after which they gained entry into the banks.  Eyewitness account said as soon as the dynamites exploded, the heavily armed bandits started firing bullets in all directions inside the first bank they entered.

According to the witnesses, while some of them were inside one of the banks, another group broke into another  nearby bank, while others took positions in front of the area, at the same time shooting indiscriminately. A commercial motorcyclist, popularly called Okada, who was close-by, was hit by bullets and he was said to have collapsed later after fleeing from the scene.

Another witness who was also inside one of the banks, told newsmen “After the dynamite exploded, the bandits, who were dressed in army camouflage, invaded the banks threatening to kill anybody who attempted to confront them. They broke into all the rooms inside the bank and dragged everybody into the main banking hall.  While doing that, they were at the same time brutalising customers and hitting others with the butts of their guns.  They broke into the bank’s vault easily and carted huge sums of money away. ATMs were not spared as they also looted all the money in the machine. They operated simultaneously in the two banks, after which they escaped  through the same  canal they entered the area. In fact, as they were fleeing from the scene, they forced some butchers in a nearby market to help them load their massive loot into the canoe before escaping.”

Uju, one of the residents of Block 8, 4th Avenue, where the stray bullet hit mother and child, told newsmen: “While the shooting was going on, every one laid on the floor in their respective apartments.  I was with Jane in her parlour while her child was inside the room.  Suddenly, the child started crying and the mother stood up to carry her. As she was coming to the sitting room with the baby, a stray bullet perforated the window, hit the baby in the chest and also got the mother on the left side of her shoulder.  Immediately, she took the child back to the room and started shouting for help. Nobody came to her rescue because people were running helter skelter for dear life.”

However, when the dust settled, a neighbour, identified as Irabor Sunday, reportedly rushed them to Mother and Child Hospital at the First Gate in Festac where they were confirmed dead.  The baby was, thereafter, taken back to the house while her mother was rushed to Lord’s Chosen  Church where a prayer session was organised for her revival. Newsmen gathered that  at 3pm, her corpse was taken to  Igando General Hospital mortuary where she worked as a nurse.