Police arrests 7 suspects for multiple bank robberies in Ondo, Ekiti, others

Nigerian Police Operatives attached to the Special Tactical Squad have arrested a 7-man criminal gang that attacked and robbed three commercial banks in the South-West States of Ondo and Ekiti between 2019 and 2020.

The police said they killed innocent citizens including six (6) policemen and carted away several millions of naira.

Last year, PREMIUM TIMES reported when armed robbers stormed a branch of the United Bank of Africa (UBA) in Oye-Ekiti and left two people dead.

The robbers, in the daylight operation, carted away money from the bank’s vault and stole from the customers.

The newspaper also reported the bank robbery, which took place 5 months ago, at Ile-Oluji in Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State.

The police spokesman, Femi Joseph, confirmed that two banks were attacked by the robbers who used dynamites to destroy their entrances before gaining access.

According to a statement released by the Nigeria Police Force on Thursday: “Investigation reveals that the dare-devil armed robbers – Tunbosun Ojo ‘m’ 42 years, Ismaila Ojo ‘m’ 25 years, Victor Oyeyemi ‘m’ 36 years, Dele Ariyo ‘m’ 44 years, Shola Oladimeji ‘m’ 50 years, Olubodun Folayemi ‘m’ 44 years and Adeniyi John ‘m’ 42 years – carried out the robbery of a commercial bank in Ile-Oluji, Ondo State on 7th February 2020 where four (4) policemen were killed.”

Similarly, they were also involved in the robbery of a Microfinance Bank in Idanre, Ondo State in December 2019 and a commercial bank at Oye Ekiti, Ekiti State where two policemen lost their lives.

The statement added: “Efforts are being intensified to arrest other members of the gang still at large and to recover other sophisticated weapons used in the operations.”

In a similar vein, twenty-three (23) other suspects were also arrested by the Police operatives for their involvement in various crimes including armed robbery, kidnapping, illegal possession of prohibited firearms, car snatching at gunpoint, amongst other offences.

The following were recovered from the suspects: One AK49 rifle, One AK47 rifle, two pump action guns, five locally made guns, nineteen locally made short guns, one hundred and twenty-five cartridges, one hundred and forty-five AK47 ammunition, locally fabricated explosives and a Toyota Corolla vehicle with Reg. No. LSR 490 GC.

The suspects will be charged to court on the conclusion of investigations.