Police authorities in Kogi have confirmed the attack on three banks in Ankpa, a town and one of the local government areas of the state.
In a statement late Tuesday, Mr William Aya who is the Police Public Relations Officer in the state said the raid on UBA, First Bank, and Zenith Bank branches in Ankpa was carried out simultaneously.
“The Commissioner of Police, Kogi State Police Command CP Edward Egbuka, psc immediately led a team of tactical operatives to the scenes for on-the-spot assessment and has equally ordered the deployment of additional operational assets consisting of operatives of the Police Mobile Force, Counter Terrorism Unit, Quick Response Unit, State Intelligence Bureau in synergy with other security agencies to restore normalcy in the area,” he said.
The gunmen were said to have stormed Ankpa in large number on Tuesday afternoon, causing panic in the area as residents run for safety.
According to reports, the armed robbers raided the banks in an operation that lasted several hours with no interference from the security operatives.
While they reportedly moved from one bank to the other and left the town in bullet shells, a student of the Kogi State University was alleged to have been shot dead at the scene of withdrawing cash from one of the banks’ automated teller machine (ATM).
Although Aya did not state whether anyone was killed or injured during the raid, he gave a contrary account regarding the presence of the security operatives.
“The police personnel on duty both at the station and the banks quickly recovered from the sudden attack and gallantly repelled the attackers who were forced to flee – some into nearby bushes, others with their vehicles,” he said. “The hoodlums abandoned three vehicles used for the operation in their haste to escape, some of them with bullet wounds.
“The CP use this medium to call on the people of Ankpa and its adjoining communities to be on the lookout and report anybody seen with bullet wounds to the Police or any other security Forces nearest to them.”
The police commissioner, according to its Aya, is committed to working in synergy with other security agencies and patriotic stakeholders in the onslaught against crimes and criminality to make the state a safe and secure place for all and sundry.
He also tasked the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the Investigation Department (SCID) to commence investigations into the remote and immediate cause of the incident, as well as trail the hoodlums with a view to apprehend and bring them to book.
Egbuka appealed to residents to go about their lawful businesses and continue to support the police and other security agencies with credible and timely information on the activities of criminal elements in their environs.