Image-newtelegraphonline |
Crack detectives weekend foiled attempt by some armed robbers to blow up
and rob one of the old generation banks in Ondo State by digging an
underground tunnel into the premises.
The gang, it was gathered, had
dug over 15 meters into the bank premises from the fence which is behind
the bank at Alagbaka area where it is located in Akure metropolice.
Vanguard learned that the tunnel was able to contain three persons at a time,
while the place from where the hoodlums operated, is isolated from other
buildings.
It was gathered that the tunnel would have been dug into the banking hall if it had not been discovered by the detectives.
Police
source said the gang that planned the robbery would have operated at
the weekend when the bank staff would not be at work.Sources said the
bankers would have resumed to discover that the banks vault had been
blown off and all the money carted away.
Speaking
in Akure, the Commissioner of Police, Mike Ogbodu, said:
“It was the
banks’ surveillance squad that discovered the long tunnel dug by the
suspected armed robbers behind the Ado/Owo Road branch of the bank.’’
“The length of the tunnel dug from the perimeter fence of the bank into the bank premises was about 10 to 15 meters.“The
tunnel was apparently prepared to serve as a passage to the bank
premises to carry out their nefarious act without being noticed.’’
According
to the Police chief who conducted newsmen round the scene, items
recovered include shovel, diggers and other tools, biscuits, pure water
sachets and soft drinks.
“This is a new trend being employed by men
of the underworld these days. Consequently, bank management are advised
to be conscious of the happenings in their environment and also
endeavour to always remove any barrier that could serve as cover for
criminals,’’ the police commissioner said.