Gunmen believed to be armed robbers, attacked banks and police stations in two Osun State towns on Wednesday killing policemen.
The two towns – Ikire in Irewole local government Area and Apomu in Isokan local government – both off the Ibadan-Ile-Ife Expressway, were under attack almost simultaneously between 5:30pm and about 7pm.
The gunmen broke into the bank branches. They killed a police guard at the bank in Apomu and shot a bank official in the leg, according to sources in the town.
They also reportedly shot a policeman during the attack on the bank in Ikire. They shot into the air to scare residents.
However, residents of Apomu, sources said, came out in large number to stand up against the robbers.
They were led by men of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) in the town.
They eventually repelled the attackers who they chased away, preventing them from having access into bank vault.
The pressure forced the gunmen to abandon two vehicles which the Apomu OPC men recovered.
“They have taken the vehicles to the police, whose reinforcement came into town after the OPC men had chased away the gunmen,” a source said.
He explained that because it was a market day in Apomu, there was a large members of people in the town on Wednesday.
“The attack on the bank in Apomu was like one in which people were watching the shooting of a film, but in this case, the people were also participating by throwing stones and whatever objects they could find at the “actors” (gunmen)”, another source said.
An official of the bank said they did not take any money from the Apomu bank before fleeing but they shot a bank official in the leg, it was also learnt.
The police could not confirm the number of people killed in the attacks.
They also did not say whether any of their men was killed.
Spokesperson of the police in Osun State, Yemisi Opalola, a Superintendent, said: “the Commissioner of Police, Mr Olawale Olokode, is now at the scene of the crime. The robbers attacked two banks and they killed some people. They also attacked a police station during the operation.”
She promised to provide more information later.
