4 robbers killed, 4 policemen injured in gun duel

Uchechukwu Olisah, Benin City - 18.03.2008

Four suspected armed robbers were shot dead just as four policemen sustained injuries in an exchange of gunfire after a robbery attack on a filling station at the weekend in Ekpoma, Edo State.

The robbers, numbering about five, were said to have dispossessed people of their money and other valuables at the filling station before snatching a black jeep with which they escaped.

However, acting on a tip-off, policemen laid siege to them on the Benin By-Pass, where, during an exchange of gunfire, one of the robbers was shot dead by the police.

The robbers, in the heat of the gun duel with the police, reportedly abandoned the jeep and snatched and an Audi car as they continued their escape.

The state Police Commissioner, Mr. Chris Dega, who spoke with newsmen on the development on Monday in Benin City, said following the chase from the police, one of the robbery suspects was arrested while the others escaped.

“But as God would have it, two of the robbers were spotted at Ugbowo where they were trying to buy clothes to change their blood stained clothes. One of our men went for them and arrested one while the other one escaped. So, the one who was arrested now took us to their base.

“It was like hell when we got there because we saw the others who escaped earlier. The shooting was serious and that was where four of our men sustained injuries. Three of the robbers died in the cross fire, including the one that took us to their hideout,” Dega said.