Simon Utebor, Yenagoa
One suspected armed robber was killed and another seriously wounded on Sunday as a three-man armed robbery gang engaged the police in a gun duel in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
It was learnt that the shoot-out, which occurred in the early hours of Sunday, took place behind the Azikoro Healthcare Centre in the Yenagoa metropolis.
Though the casualty figure could not be ascertained on both sides, a reliable source claimed that the police team did not record any death during the gun duel.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Bayelsa State Command, Mr. Asinim Butswat, confirmed the shoot-out, saying that police operatives stormed the scene of the robbery operation on a tip-off.
Butswat, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, in a statement issued after the operation on Sunday, said the command got a distress call about 2am that some ‘dare-devil armed robbers’ were operating in Azikoro, on the outskirt of the state capital.
He said, “On April 8, 2018, at about 0200hrs, the command’s control room got a distress call and alerted the Azikoro Divisional Police Anti-Robbery Team, that armed robbers were operating behind Azikoro Healthcare Centre, Azikoro, Yenagoa.
“The team responded swiftly and met about three daredevil armed robbers on the spot. The robbers engaged the police in a gun duel; the police exchanged fire and gunned down one of the robbers and injured another.
“The team recovered one locally-made cut-to-size gun, two live cartridges, eight mobile phones, some jewellery and cash.”
He said the victims of the robbery attacks: Iprebo Ayebanengiyefa, 40; Awubare Ife, 39; and Sunny Peter, 42, had identified their phones among the items recovered from the suspects.
He added, “One of the suspects, identified as Selepamodei Ogili, 23, a jailbird, has died as a result of the gunshot wound.
“The other suspect, one Kimipanipre Franklin, alias Castro, male, 22, a final-year Political Science Student of Niger Delta University, Amassoma, was fatally wounded.
“Franklin confessed that they are members of Bobos Cult group. The third suspect is at large and efforts have been intensified to arrest him.”
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by Abdulfatai Ayobami Ibrahim via Punch Newspapers
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