Police arrest 7 suspects over bank robbery, murder

By MONDAY IJEH

The police on Thursday in Abuja said seven suspects were arrested in connection with robbery operation in three banks.

The police said six police officers were killed in Ondo and Ekiti states during the robberies

The Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Mr Frank Mba, disclosed this at a media briefing in Abuja.

Mba said the two banks located in Ondo State and one in Ekiti were attacked by armed robbery gangs between 2019 and early 2020.

The PPRO said the arrest of the suspects followed an extensive investigation by the operatives of the Police Special Tactical Squared (STS) that lasted several months.

”We are glad that we can present to you, the outcome of investigation into the robberies where six policemen were killed,” he said.

Mba said four of the policemen were killed in robberies involving two banks in Ondo State while two were killed in Ekiti bank robbery.

He said the robbery operations were highly organised and clinically executed with roles assigned to each member of the gang.

According to him, two of the suspects are motorcycle operators who move round the robbery environment to keep the gang members informed of police presence during operation.

Mba said a 33-year-old arm dealer had also been arrested with a total of 131 rounds of AK47 live ammunition by operatives of STS.

He said the operatives had closely monitored the activities of the suspect before he was arrested.

The PFRO said the suspect was on his way to deliver the live ammunition to bandits in Kaduna from Abuja when he was intercepted and arrested.

Mba said the police had also arrested a 47-year-old alleged car snatcher who attacked a victim in Kaduna and snatched his Toyota Corolla saloon car.

He said the suspect was arrested by the police after snatching the car.

“Police operatives who got wind of the incident, followed up on the suspect and got him arrested,” he said.

The FPRO said the car and the weapon used for the operation were recovered after his arrest.

Mba said a total of 32 suspects who had been clearly linked with offences of armed robbery, kidnapping, homicide, fraud, cattle rustling and bank robbery were arrested by police operatives.

He said one AK47 riffle, one AK49 riffle, two pump action riffles, 19 locally made pistols, 129 live cartridges for the pump actions, 125 round of live ammunition and one Toyota Corolla Saloon car were recovered. (NAN)