18th November, 2016
It was reliably gathered that the four-man robbery gang had trailed their victim (name withheld), who came to Benin from Ughelli in Delta State, to buy a car, to a new generation bank located around Technical Road Junction in the City, where he had gone to withdraw money.
The robbers who reportedly came in a grey colour Toyota Corolla car with an Abuja registration number, were said to have gone into the bank with their victim.
Unknown to him, as he was coming out of the bank after withdrawing the money, they shot him on the lap after robbing him of N500,000.
The robbers thereafter shot sporadically into the air to scare passersby and escape.
They were however unlucky, as they were chased by men of Operation Thunder Storm, a security outfit of the State Police Command patrolling the city.
Two of the armed robbers were shot dead during the encounter at the Evbomore area of Ugbowo, off Ugbowo-Lagos Road, while another member of the gang was arrested by the police, who also recovered the stolen money.
The police cordoned off the area to search for the fourth member of the gang.
When contacted, the spokesman of the Edo State Police command, DSP Moses Nkombe, declined comment, saying he would have to seek clearance from his boss, the Commissioner of Police before he could speak.
Meanwhile, the victim of the attack is said to have been rushed to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) for medical attention.