Robbers kill ASP in Lagos, as police parades 130 hoodlums

An Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and an Inspector fell yesterday under robbers’ bullets in new Oko-Oba, Agege, a Lagos suburb. The Police Command claimed last night that two robbers were also killed.

The officers reportedly displayed rare bravery as they engaged the robbers despite their superior firepower.

It was gathered that four policemen were on patrol around 2am when they sighted; a Hilux pick-up and two Toyota Sienna buses which they mistook for their Area Commander’s.

Police sources said they parked as a mark of honour for their presumed boss, only to be at from the vehicles.

The ASP and the Inspector, who were said to have taken cover behind the patrol van, returned fire.

Source said the robbers hit the ASP in the leg and he fell down and the robbers riddled his body with bullets.

The Inspector was also gunned down; the others, a Sergeant and a Corporal, escaped.

The Nation learnt that a reinforcement arrived at the scene after the robbers had fled.

Another version of the incident said the patrol team was on its way to respond to a distress call when the bandits, who were in three vehicles, opened fire on them at Paying Junction near Olaniyi street.

Police spokesperson Ngozi Braide confirmed the death of the police officers, adding that two of the robbers were also killed. The command has arrested 130 suspected members of a robbery syndicate known as “One Million Boys.”

A few weeks ago, residents of Ajegunle sent a distress call to the Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko, on the gang, which they claimed has been terrorising the suburb.

The suspects were brought into the Command Headquarters in a Black Maria and two commercial vehicles.

Weapons recovered from them included five live ammunition, two double barrel guns, and 10 machetes.

Parading the suspects, Manko said their arrest was the fulfillment of his promise to get them.

Their arrest, he said, followed a raid of night clubs, a hotel, and Boundary in Ajegunle. He said a bag of weed suspected to be Indian hemp, one pistol, and a gun accessory were recovered. Manko assured the residents that the police would not relent until all the hoodlums are flushed out.

Some of the suspects claimed the “real armed robbers” ran away during the raid, denying that they are not members of the notorious gang.

A suspect, Onyekachi Amaechi, said the gun recovered from his compound belongs to a gang member he identified as Sanni. He said Sanni kept the gun there while on the run. According to him, residents that do not have “reasonable amount” risk torture, maiming, and raping by the gang.

Emmanuel Monday, 17, and Jude Ifegun 18, both residents of Ladiga Street, denied being members of the gang. They claimed they were arrested because they kept late night.