Gunmen identified to be armed robbers have attacked four commercial banks in Otukpo town of Benue State, on Friday
A yet-to-be-specified number of persons including bank customers and operatives of the Nigerian police force were said to have been killed in the attack.
It was gathered that the robbers invaded four commercial banks – First Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Stanbic IBTC, and Zenith Plc on Friday afternoon, shooting sporadically to scare people around the area.
The robbers were said to have also thrown money carted away from the banks in the air as they left in two Hilux vehicles and one car.
The spokesperson for the state’s Police Command, SP Catherine Anene confirmed the robbery incident but gave no further detail on the incident.
Eyewitnesses who spoke on the incident said the criminals killed both customers who were in the banking halls and passers-by.
First Bank Plc is located along the Otukpo-Enugu highway opposite the Police Area Command in Otukpo.
But witnesses said the armed robbers operated unchallenged as there was no police response to the attack.
“They first stormed Zenith Bank and then quickly spread out to the three other banks where they robbed simultaneously.
“The robbers rained bullets from all directions which hit passers-by and bank customers, but the police took cover for the over two hours that the operation lasted,” a resident in Otukpo metropolis explained to Reporters.
It was learnt that Otukpo Divisional Police Officer (DPO), whose name could not be ascertained as of press time, was hit by bullets and taken to an undisclosed hospital
In some of the videos which has gone viral on social media, lifeless bodies drenched in blood in banking halls and in the streets of Otukpo were seen.
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