Robbers bomb police station, bank in Kogi

admin | July 22, 2012 | 0 Comments

fa26a Acting Inspector General of Police Alhaji Abubakar Mohammed 360x225 Robbers bomb police station, bank in Kogi

No fewer than 20 armed robbers bombed a police station and a branch of Unity Bank at Iyara Local Government Council of Kogi State on Friday night.

A police corporal was killed while a policewoman was injured in the robbery operation that took place between 8pm and 9pm.

About three divisional police stations and many banks in the area have been bombed in the past one year.

Our correspondent gathered on Saturday that the thieves, who were heavily armed with sophisticated weapons and explosives, divided themselves into two groups.

One group was said to have stormed the police station, killed the corporal and also shot at the back of a female police officer who was trying to escape, while the second group invaded the bank and shattered it with explosives.

Some residents of the town said the robbers held the town hostage for a long time, detonating explosives indiscriminately and shooting sporadically.

As at press time, it was not known whether the bandits succeeded in carting away money from the bank.

The Kogi State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Muhammed Katsina, confirmed the incident to journalists in Lokoja on Saturday.

Also, the spokesman of the Kogi State Police Command, Mr Ile Simon, said, “We cannot give details for now. All we know is that they attacked the bank and our station and there was exchange of fire.”

Also in a telephone interview the Abuja Zonal Coordinator, Operations, National Emergency Management Agency, Ishaya Chonoko, said the injured policewoman was receiving treatment at the Kabba General Hospital.

Meanwhile, the Kogi State Governor, Captain Idris Wada, has said the government is determined to apprehend those behind the attacks.

Wada, who was represented by his deputy, Mr. Yomi Awoniyi, while inspecting the damage at the police station and the bank on Saturday, said Kogi was bordered by 10 states including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and this made the state susceptible to criminal activities.

He ordered that the policewoman be transferred to the Specialist Hospital, Lokoja, for prompt and adequate medical care.

The Olujumu of Ijumu Kingdom, Oba Jerome Sumonu, appealed for more presence of security agencies in the area.