Encomium
Two commercial banks, Diamond Bank and FCMB, along 4th Avenue in Festac, Lagos were reported to have been besieged by army robbers earlier today, July 15, 2016, carting away huge sums of money, killing one person and forcing other banks to close for the day’s work
Different sources who claimed to have witnessed the incident at the Amuwo Odofin area sent distress calls to security operatives across various social media platforms and warned people to avoid the 4th avenue axis of the area as the men of the night carried out the operation with a RRS Helicopter circling the scene of the crime.
Upon inquiry, one of the security men at the Diamond Bank in the area said nothing of such happened and opined that it could be a misinformation about the 2015 bank robbery and truly customers were freely going in and out of the banks.
Dolapo Badmus, Lagos state police public relation officer when contacted stated that she wasn’t aware of such occurrence and that the report is just as a figment of people’s imagination which should be ignored.
FCMB Bank tweeted in a response that the said robbery attack is ‘NOT TRUE’, while Diamond bank is yet to debunk or confirm the incident.
Lagos State Police Command issued the following denial:
The attention of the Lagos state command has been drawn to a false alarm being raised and circulated on social media about Armed Robbery Operations going on at 4th Avenue, Festac Town, in three new generation banks and at the same time the killing of a customer today 15th day of July 2016.
The command wishes to inform members of the public that this story is just a figment of imagination of the initiator, it is not in any way or part true, and so should be treated as such and by extension discarded.
The Command has put in place strategies which have in a long time ward off any form of bank robbery in the state, as it remains resolute in ensuring no bank robbery or any form of robbery happens again in Lagos state. However, residents of Festac Town and Lagos at large are hereby assured of the Command’s commitment to their safety and security.
Members of the public are hereby advised to verify information before circulating to avoid creating unnecessary panic and feelings of insecurity, and to promptly report any form of criminality to the police.
SP Dolapo Badmos
Police Public Relations Officer
Lagos State Command
- Seyifunmi Adebote for encomium.ng
