Gunmen suspected to be armed robbers on Wednesday reportedly killed one Taiwo Oyekanmi, said to be a director of finance, at the governor’s office in Ogun state.
A witness said the robbers waylaid the homemade bullion van conveying Oyekanmi after he left a branch of Fidelity Bank in Abeokuta, the state capital.
According to the witness, the victim was ascending the overhead bridge in the Kuto area before the gunmen shot at him and other occupants of the van.
The witness further said the hoodlums used a sledgehammer to break the bullion van’s door and went away with the government’s money.
Reacting to the incident, Abiodun Alamutu, the commissioner of police in Ogun, said the government account officer went to the bank without a police escort.
He said an investigation has been launched into the case, noting that the police had started collecting CCTV footage at the bank shortly before the accountant was killed.
“This afternoon, the accountant, a director of finance with driver and one other person left for Fidelity bank to make some withdrawal, they went homemade bullion van,” the police commissioner said.
They were supposed to have a police escort, but for certain reasons, the person was permitted to travel to attend to some issues, so consequently he was not part of the movement until today.
“After making the withdrawal, and on their way back to the office, they were accosted. A vehicle blocked them on top of the bridge, five occupants of the vehicle came down, shot at the director and from their vehicle, they brought out a sledgehammer to force the receptacle where the money was kept open and they left with the money.
“The director that was shot was thereafter taken to Ijaye hospital where he eventually gave up the ghost.”
“For our investigation, I have directed the area commander to get to the bank and request the CCTV footage which will give us insight into the vehicle in question and the possibility of identifying the culprits if they ever ventured to step out of the vehicle or maybe they just maintained their position in the vehicle.”
I’M DEVASTED AND DEEPLY SADDENED’
Reacting to the incident, Dapo Abiodun, governor of Ogun, said he was devasted and saddened by the death of Oyekanmi.
“The cold-blooded murder of Mr. Taiwo Oyekanmi, our late Director of Finance and Accounts, has left me devastated and deeply saddened,” Abiodun wrote in a Facebook post.
“The loss of Mr. Oyekanmi is undoubtedly a tremendous blow to our administration. He was a dedicated, honest, and diligent official, and his untimely demise has caused great sorrow among his colleagues and the government as a whole.
“We are determined to bring his murderers to justice swiftly and ensure that they face the full consequences of their actions.”
Abiodun said his administration is fully committed to preventing any such calamity from “befalling our beloved state again”.
“I have been in contact with all security agencies, directing them to immediately locate and apprehend the criminals responsible,” he said.