Robbers have been said to have ambushed and shot dead a police inspector in an exchange of gun fire in Lagos.
A police Inspector from the Aguda Police Division, Lagos State, Stephen Oruaman, has died from gunshot injuries he sustained in an encounter with some robbers.
Oruaman had provided security backup for some staff members of a sanitary pad company located at Sanya Bus Stop, along Oshodi-Apapa Expressway.
It was gathered that Oruaman had escorted the workers in a Kia Rio car to a bank in Apapa to withdraw money which ran into millions of naira.
Our correspondent learnt that they wanted to enter the company’s premises when two bandits on a motorcycle ambushed them and started shooting.
Armed Oruaman was said to have responded to the shooting to foil the robbery. The robbers eventually abandoned the motorcycle at the scene and took to their heels, but the cop sustained gunshot wounds.
A source, who was privy to the incident, told Saturday PUNCH, that Oruaman was rushed to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, where he died.
The source said, “The incident happened on Thursday, August 30. Inspector Oruaman was on station guard that day at the Aguda Police Station where he worked. Around 11am, he escorted the company to a bank in Apapa to withdraw money.
“As they were waiting outside the company’s premises for the gatekeeper to open the gate, some hoodlums suddenly appeared on a motorcycle and started shooting. The inspector, while trying to repel the attack, responded to the shooting. He was shot in the process, but the robbery was botched. A police team that was mobilised to the scene took him to LUTH, but he could not make it.”
A police source confided in our correspondent that about N3m was in the car, adding that the inspector’s rifle, the robbers’ operational motorcycle and the money were recovered.
“The body of the slain policeman has been deposited in a morgue. Serious efforts are being made to track down the robbers. An insider has already been arrested and investigation is ongoing,” he added.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, CSP Chike Oti, confirmed the attack, adding that one of the robbers sustained injuries.