AT least five people were killed, while several others were seriously injured in two different bank robberies in Akure, Ondo State, on Thursday with millions of naira  stolen in the process.

The robbers, who invaded Union Bank of Nigeria Plc and FirstBank Plc, located on Ilemo Street, off Oba Adesida Road, Akure, around 10 a.m., held the people in the area hostage for almost one hour.

Oba Adesida Road, which is a major road in the town, was totally taken over by the robbers throughout the period that the operation lasted with sporadic gunshots that scared people away.

Among those that fell to the bullets of the robbers were a middle-aged woman, who strapped her child on her back, the driver of the 18-seater bus used for the operation and three others.

The scene of the operations is a few metres away from ‘A’ Division Police Station and about 20 minutes drive from the police headquarters on the Igbatoro Road.

Eyewitnesses said that the robbers had attacked and killed the driver of the Toyota Hiace bus marked XY 889 FST, with the inscription “Sunshine Express,” around Oke-Ijebu and took the bus for the operation.

The robbery gang, which included two women, was said to have driven in a commando style to the ever busy Oja-Oba area of the Oba Adesida Road, with sophisticated weapons and headed straight for the banks.

The security doors of the banks, which were in opposite direction, were blown up with dynamite as the robbers were said to have invaded the banks with a bag filled with  dynamite.

Immediately they gained entry into the banks, the customers were ordered to lie face down and the money on them collected at gunpoint, while the vaults of the banks were forcefully opened and the robbers made away with millions of naira.

However, while the operation was going on, some people that were brave enough had barricaded some of the escape routes of the robbers to prevent them from leaving the town.

But immediately they finished the operation, the robbers started shooting into the air and escaped through Arakale market in the bus driven by one of the female members of the gang.

Despite the fact that the operation lasted for about one hour, men of the Nigeria Police did not appear until after the robbers had successfully escaped.

This, however, irked the people around the area who threw stones and other objects at the Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) brought to the scene by the policemen.

The dead and the wounded were later taken to the state Specialist Hospital, Akure, where the deceased were taken to the mortuary, with those injured being treated.

However, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Alhaji Adeniran Aremu, said only two people died in the incident, that the command was still on the trail of the robbers at the time of filing this report.

He said efforts would be made to ensure that the robbers were apprehended and brought to book.

Meanwhile, the Ondo State government has described the robbery attacks as an unfortunate incident and an undue infraction on the peace that has been enjoyed in the state since the inception of the present administration.

It, however, warned that the state would not be a safe haven for robbers as such infractions would be met with the stiffest preventive measures.

A release issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Kolawole Olabisi, disclosed that while the state government was deeply sad about the death and injuries sustained by innocent citizens during the attacks, it added that government would not fold its arms and watch the state being turned into an operating ground for hoodlums.

The state governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, the release revealed, had to immediately cut short an official trip to Abuja on hearing the news of the sad incident and on arrival in Akure, summoned all security chiefs in the state to an emergency briefing where they were tasked to track down the robbers and review the state security strategies forthwith.

Dr. Mimiko, while stating that the sanctity of life and property would be protected in the state, added that efforts were being put in place to stem a recurrence of such an incident.

While appealing to the people to go about their lawful business and refrain from taking the law into their own hands in their reactions to the incident, the governor assured the people of adequate security measures to guarantee the safety of life and property in the state at all times.

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