From Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure,
Panic swept through Ikare-Akoko, the headquarters of Akoko North-east Local Government Area of Ondo State on Friday evening as a new generation bank in the town was robbed.
The bank which is situated directly opposite the State High Court in the town, was robbed in the evening while the workers were preparing to close for the day.
Sunday Sun gathered that the robbery incident affected social and commercial activities in the town for several hours as shops were hurriedly closed.
Sources said the robbers armed with dangerous weapons including guns invaded the banking hall effortlessly without using explosives to break its security doors.
It was learnt that the bandits who were dressed in suits approached security men who earlier resisted them, but later allowed them in after pointing guns to their heads.
During the operation, it was gathered that customers were prevented from entering the bank premises, while the bank manager and operation officer reportedly led them to the strong room where they allegedly carted away a substantial amount of money.
Sunday Sun also learnt that all the mobile phones of the bank officials were seized, while the
operation officer was ordered to load the money in their car and drove them out of the bank premises
Also, the robbers reportedly took the car from the bank’s operation officer at Oke-Agbe, a distance of about 20 kilometres to Ikare and eventually abandoned it at Omuo-Ekiti in Ekiti State.
It was learnt that the bank officials were locked inside the toilet for hours.
Efforts to speak with the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Ikare police division were not successful.