Six Die Including Policemen As Robbers Raid Edo Banks For Six Hours, But Vigilante Men Battled Them To A Standstill

From Vanguard;

Six persons, including two policemen and a private security
man, were killed, Tuesday night, as daredevil robbers took over Igarra town,
headquarters of Akoko-Edo Local Government Area of Edo State.

The robbers, who were said to be chanting Islamic songs,
invaded Unity and Keystone bank branches in the town and operated for over six
hours.

Vanguard learned that the robbers stormed the town in two
Sienna vehicles around 6p.m., attacked the police station in the area, where
they killed two policemen, before attacking the banks.

Some of the robbers were said to have made straight for the
banks, where they used explosives to destroy the entrance to one of the banks.

During the operation, the robbers, who Vanguard learned came
from Kogi State, killed a private security man in the bank and three other
persons, one of who was said to be a commercial motocycle rider, while the
others were customers that were in the bank premises to use Automatic Teller
Machines, ATM.

The two banks are situated opposite each other along Momodu
Ajayi Road in Igarra.

Residents of the area were said to have abandoned their
homes and ran into the caves as the robbers turned the area to a theatre of
war.

However, brave vigilante operatives in the area mobilized
and barricaded their exit route along Ekpedo-Ekpe Road, near the border with
Kogi State and killed one of the robbers.

A leader of the vigilante group said: “When they started the
operation at Igarra, we quickly mobilized our people from the surrounding
villages, because the robbers came through Lampese, Ososo to Igarra and would
also go back through the axis, passing through Enwan.

“We barricaded their route and a gun battle ensued.

“They were throwing dynamites and shooting ceaselessly. We
killed one of them and arrested another, while many escaped with gunshot
wounds. We also impounded one of their vehicles.”

Vanguard, however, learned that mobile policemen had joined
the vigilante groups in the area to ransack the bushes, searching for the armed
robbers, who fled towards Kogi.