…urge them to re-open
The Ogun State Police Command has sneered at a claim by the authorities of banks in Ijebu-Ode area, that armed robbers wrote them a threat letter.
Banks in the ancient town closed shop for most days of last week over a purported letter from armed robbers urging the banks to get the robbers’ loot ready.
The banks reportedly did a shutdown, claiming the police did not have enough riot policemen or any Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) to withstand the raiders in the event of an attack.
But putting a lie to the bankers’ claim, the police authorities in Ogun State described the armed robbers’ letter saga as salacious and mischievous.
Urging the banks to re-open today (Monday), the Command said it was on top of security surveillance across the state, stressing that the banks should produce a copy of the armed robbers’ letter, to be believed.
In a statement by its spokesman, Mr. Abimbola Oyeyemi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, the Command said it was “appalled at this unprofessional behaviour of bankers in that axis, despite continuous assurance of their safety by the police and other security agencies.”
The Police added, “Their recent action can only be described as treacherous and mischievous, because they are not the only bankers we have in the state and the country in general, yet they are the ones complaining of robbery threat every now and then.
“The command has noticed that once they are bent on this mischief, they close their minds and eyes to other security arrangements the police in conjunction with other security agencies have on ground to protect them.
“They claimed armed robbers wrote to inform them that they were coming to attack them, but they would not make the purported letter available to the police for investigation and possible apprehension of those behind it.
“It is bad that from time to time they cry wolves, carelessly and recklessly; and in none of these numerous occasions has any robbery taken place.
“The command wants to believe that some of them actually want their banks to be robbed, hence this strange set of bankers exposes the banks in the area to security threats by making public, real and imaginary security lapses to the general public, including armed robbers; rather than quietly discuss them with security agencies and government.”
The Command, however, warned that the bank workers “will surely be the first set of suspects if anything unusual in the form of bank robbery (God forbid) happens in the area, at least for them to disclose their ceaseless sources of information.”
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, Ogun State Command, Mr. Edward Ajogun, has directed a full-scale investigation into the bankers’ claim of receiving a letter from armed robbers.
“On our own part, we are doing everything within the ambit of the law to guarantee the safety of lives and property of the good people of Ogun state, the banks and other financial institutions inclusive.
“It is, therefore, not in the interest of the state, for anybody to raise false alarm, the Police warned.