It was like a movie scene on Wednesday on Olaleye Street, in the Iponri area of Lagos State, after a two-man gang of armed robbers, shot dead a leader of the Oodua People’s Congress, Sanjo Akintoye.
The robbers who came on a motorcycle, shot a 43-year-old security guard on duty, who struggled with them.
But one of the robbers ran out of luck as irate residents pounced on him while trying to reload his pistol. The angry mob broke his skull with stones, sticks and bottles and eventually died on the spot.
His corpse was recovered by policemen from the Iponri division.
Reports have it that the suspect and his accomplice had trailed a worker at a construction site, who had gone to withdraw N500,000 from a branch of Zenith bank in the area.
A witness, who spoke in confidence, said the robbers who came in a motorcycle were challenged for riding a motorcycle into the area.
He said: “One of us was asked to withdraw money from the Zenith Bank around 11am. As he was coming back on foot, he was surprised to see two people following him on a motorcycle.
“One of us, Baba Bolu, challenged them for riding motorcycle into the area. The man at the back of the motorcycle shot him in the leg and in the hand and baba Bolu lost a finger.
“Just then Chairman (Akintoye) who was returning from the toilet was shot when he confronted the robber.. Despite being shot, he moved closer to one of the suspects as he continued to fire shots till he expended his bullets.”
The sporadic gunshots attracted the attention of other OPC members and some residents in the area.
He said while the robbers were shooting Akintoye, the residents had closed all exits/escape routes.
“Some of them stood on the road, while others stayed behind vehicles. Immediately they saw that he had expended his bullets, one of them attacked the robber as he climbed the motorcycle”.
“He fell. Some other people moved closer and hit him with planks, bottles and any weapon they could find, but the rider escaped,” he added.
According to further report, Akintoye was later rushed to a nearby hospital where he was confirmed dead.
Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, SP , who confirmed the incident said the police recovered one pistol with nine expended and 10 unexpended cartridges.
“Today, at about 11am, one Adeyemi reported that he was attacked by two armed men on a motorcycle, who asked him to hand over the money he had withdrawn to them. He resisted and in the process, he was shot on his right leg which attracted passersby.
“The hoodlums, sensing danger, shot at one Olatunji Ogundele and Sanjo Akintoye. One of the culprits was overpowered by the crowd and lynched, while the other escaped.
“The victims were rushed to a hospital for treatment, while the corpse of the armed robber has been taken to the Yaba General Hospital mortuary.”
