Gunmen bomb police station, kill two policemen

Written by  Success Nwogu

Hafiz Ringim

Heavily armed men on Saturday morning bombed a divisional police station in Kabba, Kogi State, killing two policemen on duty.

The bandits were also said to have looted the armoury of the police station and carted away unspecified but large quantities of ammunition.

They were also said to have deflated the tyres of the Armoured Personnel Carrier of a police rescue team.

SUNDAY PUNCH gathered that the gunmen numbering about 10 arrived at the police station around 1am in three vehicles and a motorcycle and started shooting sporadically at the policemen on duty, killing two of them instantly, while others were forced to flee.

Also, a nearby branch of the First Bank of Nigeria Plc was riddled with bullets by the robbers.

Our correspondent gathered that the bandits detonated explosives on the bank’s vault but could not gain access to it.

The bank had earlier been attacked by robbers on July 1.

One of the policemen on duty, Corporal Olatunji Opeyemi, who managed to escape the scene with bullet wounds said, “They pulled down the iron security door to gain entrance into the banking hall, but all their attempts to open the vault with the aid of explosives were fruitless.”

The Kogi State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Amana Abasankanga, after assessing the situation, told journalists that he mobilised his anti-riot policemen immediately he was alerted of the incident.

According to him, the policemen met the robbers on the way but the gunmen deflated the tyres of the APC tank before they escaped.

Also the Director of the State Security Service, Kogi State, Mr. Mike Fubara, visited the scene but said it was a robbery attack and not the work of members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect.

The Obaro of Kabba, Oba Michael Olobayo, who received Abasakanga, said he was saddened and shocked over the incident.

SOURCE: The Punch, 20 November 2011. http://punchontheweb.com/