Seven persons have been feared dead as armed robbers attacked a bullion van at Idi-Ape in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The incident, which occurred around 1:30p.m, on Thursday reportedly left three policemen and four civilians dead.
The armed robbers were said to have driven in an unmarked Toyota Sienna and were in police uniform. The robbery operation took place very close to the Agodi Area Command of the Nigeria Police Force. There are up to six commercial banks within the vicinity.
The armed robbers, according to eyewitnesses, were three in number and they carried sophisticated weapons.
The seven persons that were said to have lost their lives, the eyewitnesses said, to volleys of gunfire.
Witnesses said that the robbers later forced the bullion van open with a gun and carted away unspecified amount of money.
A visit to the scene revealed that people in the buildings, including law offices, banks and shops, scampered for safety and many of them prostrated on the floor to ensure that the bullets did not get to them when staccato of gunfire rented the atmosphere of Idi Ape, which is the place where daredevil armed robbers robbed many banks and killed many people in 2008.
The attacked bullion van has been towed to an undisclosed location by security men from Idi-Ape.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, CP Ngozi Onadeko, who visited the scene of the crime confirmed the death of two police officers, saying they were shot in the neck.
Onadeko also said that the officers killed one of the robbers but the corpse was taken away by the robbery gang.
She said that the state had been locked down to prevent the robbers from escaping from the state.
