The dead armed robbers
Three suspected armed robbers met their Waterloo in
Osogbo, Osun State, as they died after sustaining bullet wounds during a
shootout with the operatives of Special-Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) in the early
hours of Friday.
The suspects, who came in an unregistered Lexus car
for a robbery operation, went to Oke Baale area of Osogbo, opposite Osun State
Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC), to attack the residents at about 2.00 a.m.
Some of the residents, it was learnt, sent a distress
call to the officer in charge of SARS in Osun State Police Command, DSP
Adekunle Omoyele, and he was said to have led a team of operatives to the scene
immediately.
It was further gathered that on getting to the scene,
the policemen learnt that the armed robbers had robbed one Alhaja Ganiyat
Kolapo of her personal belongings while the hoodlums also went away with her
Toyota Camry car with registration number LND 847 AJ.
Omoyele and his team reportedly chased the armed
robbers towards Ibokun road. The robbers reportedly abandoned the Toyota Camry
and fled into the bush.
Meanwhile, the SARS men were said to have started
combing a nearby bush when they noticed an oncoming bus followed by a car which
model was later discovered to be Lexus.
A police source stated that as SARS operatives waved
the bus driver to a stop, the driver of the Lexus car made an attempt to
overtake the bus and fired sporadically at the police in order to escape.
Undeterred, the policemen pursued the hoodlums towards
Ibokun road and got close to them at a spot close to Egbeda Village where the
hoodlums reportedly stopped and engaged the SARS operatives in a gun battle, as
a result of which three of them sustained bullet wounds and died.
The Toyota Camry belonging to their victim and the
unregistered Lexus for the robbery were recovered by the police. One of them
was said to have escaped with bullet wounds and arms used by the robbers.
When the Lexus was searched, it was gathered that a
laptop, digger, knife, charms, assorted phones, three ATM cards, one
cut-to-size double barrel gun, seven live cartridges, five expended cartridge
shells, and some rough naira notes totaling about N36,000, as well as the
driver’s licence belonging to their victim were recovered. The victim was said
to have identified the corpses as those of the hoodlums who came to rob her.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in
Osun State Police Command, DSP Folasade Odoro, confirmed the incident, saying
that the corpses had been deposited at the State Hospital Osogbo mortuary for
autopsy. She added that efforts were on to get the fleeing hoodlums.
One of the victims, Alhaja Kolapo, said two of the
hoodlums gained entry into her apartment after cutting the net and burglar
proof on one of the windows. “One of them entered and went to the kitchen door
to open it for the second robber.
“They did not bother to switch on the light as they made
use of a torch light with strong halogen bulb which they brought. They
ransacked the house and picked all they wanted. They saw the key of the Camry
and took it also,” she narrated.
Another victim, Kareem Adebayo, said the armed robbers
also visited him and his younger brother before going to Kolapo’s house. He
said they collected the cash found with him and tied him with a rope at the
backyard.
“They came into my house through the window which
burglar proof was cut. They demanded for money and I gave them N40,000. They
saw my car key, took it and demanded for my ATM card. They said they would take
me to an ATM to withdraw the N47,000 they saw as my account balance. I told
them the ATM card was in the car.
“They were searching the car for the ATM card when
they found the N150,000 I kept there. They started beating me, saying that I
lied that I didn’t have money. One of them also wanted to rape my wife and when
she told him that she was pregnant, he still wanted to go ahead and had already
worn his shirt inside out.
“She was saved because by then, my brother had been
able to free himself and he jumped over the fence to alert neighbours. When the
neighbours were coming, the hoodlums lay flat on the ground, and as one of the
neighbours, one Owolabi Mohammed, got to where they lay, one of the armed
robbers stood and hit his head with a digger, resulting in a deep gash. That
was how they ran away with my money and my car key,” Adebayo also said.
The two victims praised the efforts of the SARS in
responding promptly. Mr Adebayo said he was already on his way to a network
service provider to retrieve his line when he received information that he
should come to SARS to check some of the items found with the dead hoodlums and
identify them.
Alhaja Kolapo also said “I am highly impressed with
the immediate response of the police. I am happy that they recovered the items
taken from me and got my tormentors.”
Culled from
Tribune
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