Controversy as Police Kill One During Gun Battle in Failed Bank Robbery in Bayelsa

An armed robber was at the weekend, gunned down by the police in Bayelsa State during a gun battle after a failed attempt by a five-man syndicate to rob a branch of the Stanbic IBTC Bank in Yenagoa.

Police officers on duty

 

It has been reported that the Nigerian Police in Bayelsa State gunned down a suspected armed robber over the past weekend during a gun battle after a failed attempt by a five-man syndicate to rob a branch of the Stanbic IBTC Bank in Yenagoa, the state capital.

 

According to reports, the robbers scaled the fence of the bank at about 11:00pm and engaged the policemen guarding the bank in a gun duel, but the policemen reportedly fired back, hit one of the robbers and killed him instantly. The remaining four robbers reportedly fled with gunshot wounds.

 

The Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, of the Command, Butswat Asinim, in a statement made available to newsmen in Yenagoa on Wednesday, confirmed the incident, saying that the corpse of the deceased armed robber was deposited at the morgue of the Federal Medical Centre in the state capital.

 

He said , "On March 27, 2016, at about 11pm, five unidentified gunmen scaled the fence of Stanbic IBTC Bank building at Kpansia, Yenagoa LGA, and opened fire on the policemen on duty.

"The policemen fired back at them, killed one of the gunmen and the other robbers fled with bullet wounds. Efforts have been intensified to arrest the fleeing suspects and investigation is ongoing. The police recovered a single-barrelled cut-to-size locally-made gun," the PPRO stated.