- Kill police officer, despite bullet proof
A four-man gang of suspected armed robbers have killed a police officer and wounded two others in an attack on a fuel and gas station at Igando in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State, our correspondent has learnt.
The attack on Dapsey Petrol Station threw the area in chaos as residents, motorists and commuters scampered for safety.
The previous night before the latest attack, it was learnt, the suspected robbers had raided three fuel stations in the area.
Our correspondent learnt that the four-man gang, who drove recklessly in a Honda car, stormed the area and opened fire on the police officers within the premises of the fuel station.
It was gathered that the murdered officer, identified as Sgt. Akor, had “bullet repellant” and had confronted the robbers unarmed.
The robbers were said to have taken to their heels following the gallant display of Akor, but they took along his rifle.
The corpse of the officer was later found by staff of the fuel station, meters away from the scene of the attack, after he had pursued the robbers in order to recover his arm.
The robbers also wounded a soldier, who was at the scene of the attack, while another police officer sustained injuries.
The attack, which lasted over an hour, according to an eyewitness, took place a few meters from Igando police division.
Speaking to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, the soldier, who was a victim of the attack, said, “Those bad boys stormed the petrol station in a Commando style operation in a Honda car. They targeted us where I was standing with those police officers near one of the parked petrol tankers. They drove recklessly against us as if they wanted to crush us; we fell down and I hit the floor, sustaining this wound on my face, and immediately, they started shooting indiscriminately and one of the bullets hit my leg and I ran for cover.
“One of the armed police officers, who was also hit by the robbers’ car, lost his rifle to the robbers and escaped with injuries with others.”
Narrating how Sgt. Akor was killed, an eyewitness, Frances Adeleke, said, “Before the attack, I think the police officer went inside one of the offices in the filling station, because when he was coming out, he confronted the robbers without his gun. We learnt he kept his gun behind before going out.
“And from what we saw, the officer had bullet proof on him, because he was shouting, ‘You no fit, you no fit!’ (You can’t hurt me, you can’t hurt me!) as he was being shot. He ran straight to them and they started shooting at him, but surprisingly, the bullets did not penetrate his body.
“When the robbers saw that their bullets could not penetrate the police officer, they ran away with his rifle, which they had earlier seized, but left their car behind.
“But he was advised not to go after them. Later, about 30 minutes later, the manager of the fuel station and some of the workers traced him, and surprisingly, they found his corpse by the road side, at a bus stop, not too far from where the incident happened.”
The body of the slain officer had been deposited in the morgue of a state hospital facility while the car used for the operation by the robbers had been taken to Igando Police Division.
Speaking with our correspondent, the Chairman of the fuel station, Mr. Dapo Coker, confirmed the attack, adding that the resistance of the late police officer prevented the robbers from gaining access into his office to steal the money that was kept there.
He, however, frowned on the inability of the Igando Police Division to respond to the alert, when the robbers struck, noting that the robbers were not challenged, despite having robbed three petrol stations the previous night.
“The police didn’t do well at all. They could not repel the robbers. And even at night, the robbers went to rob Forte Oil and two other filling stations at Lanre side. If not for the slain policeman, my money would have been stolen,”
he said.
Meanwhile, the Manager of the oil and gas station, who simply identified himself as Mr. Tijani, has been arrested in connection with the
attack.
Efforts to confirm the incident from the Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent Chike Oti, were not successful as he did not respond to a text message sent
to his phone.
