ARMED ROBBERS STORM AGGRESSIVELY IN OGUN STATE

we are sad to heard about this broke out on Thursday at the permanent site of the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) at Ago-Iwoye in Ogun as a gang of armed robbers raided five new generation banks operating in the campus. we heard that during the operation which lasted 30 minutes, undisclosed amount of money was carted away while stray bullets killed three persons with several others sustaining various degrees of injuries. It was also learnt that the robbers, numbering 10, came into the campus at about 12:00 p.m. and robbed the five banks simultaneously. An eye-witness said that the robbers came to the campus with a white space bus and a jeep. The witness said that the robbers shot into the air to scare people away before blowing up the banks' security doors with dynamite to gain entrance into the banking hall. He explained that during the process of spraying bullets into the air, a woman selling food beside one of the banks was hit while two students who went to the bank for transactions were also hit. He said that the two students died instantly. The eye witness, who is a student of the institution, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the robbers stationed two of their men at the main gate of the institution while others were operating inside the campus. It was also learnt that students who were preparing to start their examination at noon when the robbery took place had to run for their lives while both academic and non-academic staff of the institution took to their heels. ``It was as if we are in another world war the way the robbers shot into the air sporadically to scare people away and the way dynamites were used to blow away the security doors of the banks,`` another witness said. Confirming the incident, Mr Sam Oyeleye, the institution's Public Relations Officer, said that the authorities were shocked over the robbery incident. Oyeleye, however, said that he was unaware of the death of three persons as a result of the robbery operation. He said that the only student who was injured was receiving treatment at the hospital. ``I must confess, today was a dark period in terms of the sanity we have been enjoying in the campus. We have not been having gunshots for a while in the campus not until about 11:30 a.m. this morning. ``But the management has began to look at how to effectively network with various security agencies to prevent future occurrences. We thought what we have on ground in terms of security was sufficient,`` Oyeleye said. The spokesman, however, said that the students would be allowed to rest from the shock till Monday before the commencement of the examination which was scheduled for Thursday. In his reaction, the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Muyiwa Adejobi, said that the police would access the scene of the incident before they would make any statement on the incident. Meanwhile, all banks in Ijebu-Ode closed down as early as 12:15 p.m. immediately they got wind of the robbers' attack on the institution. Some of the customers, who were inside the banks for transaction were locked in for close to three hours, while those who wanted to enter were prevented from doing so.