… details of the gun battle that ensued
By Ifeanyi Okolie
Five members of a deadly armed robbery gang that killed nine persons last Sunday at Ajah and Ebute-Metta areas of the State, were at the early hours of last Sunday, gunned down during an exchange of gunfire with the police at Eko Bridge, Lagos Island. The robbers, who also killed two policemen during their onslaught, met their waterloo when operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, Ikeja, confronted them after they attacked Ebute-Ero and Ajao Estates respectively, recovering three automatic pump action guns, five pistols, ammunitions and assorted charms.
Crime Alert gathered that the gang started their operation last Sunday around 1:00am at Ebute-Ero end of Lagos Island, where they opened fire on two policemen leaving one of them dead, while the other sustained severe bullet wounds. The gang went further to rob a warehouse at Ajao Estate, Isolo, around 2:30am, where they carted away cartons of exotic mobile phones, I-pads and Samsung Galaxy tabs. They also opened fire on a team of policemen on a patrol vehicle from Ajao Estate Police Station, who rushed to the scene following a distress call, killing one of them while others sustained injuries.
Sources intimated Crime Alert that the Commissioner of police, Lagos State, Umar Manko, immediately ordered a clamp down on the gang when he received news of the attacks by the robbers and the officer in-charge of SARS, Abba Kyari, led four teams of SARS operatives in search of the robbers. It was further gathered that a team of policemen went to Ajao Estate where the gang was operating in two vehicles, a Toyota Odyssey and a black colour Honda SUV, in search of them, while others went to Surulere and other parts of the State.
About an hour later, the operatives at Surulere, spotted a Toyota Odyssey matching the description of the car being used by the robbers at the National Stadium and they went after it, but on approaching the vehicle, the occupants opened fire on the police vehicle in a bid to escape and the police responded. The robbers ran further to Eko Bridge, where the operatives succeeded in meeting up with them and a gun battle ensured.
Three of the dare-devils managed to jump off the bridge before the police could get to them, four were found dead while one other, later identified as Ganiu Menter, was found alive with fatal bullet wounds. A police source who craved anonymity told Crime Alert that Menter, who later died from the fatal bullet wounds he received had confessed to have taken part in the recent gruesome murder at 04 Hotel, Ajah, where they killed the owner, identified as Olanrewaju Subair, and six others, some of whom they raped and set ablaze. According to the source, the dying suspect also told the police that after the Ajah\ massacre, they went to a popular hotel along Apapa Road, Ebute-Meta, where they killed two security guards they alleged were police informants.
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