Bauchi bank attack: Insiders' job - Police

BAUCHI-Bauchi State Police Commissioner, Mr Ikechukwu Aduba, yesterday said the attacks on a police station and bank in Misau Local Government of the state by suspected Boko Haram members were facilitated by insiders.

The hoodlums had last week raided a first generation bank and carted away about N19.2 million before proceeding to the nearby police station where they allegedly detonated a bomb that razed down the building after shooting five policemen and a civilian, injuring another civilian.

The police said although they have succeded in killing three of the suspected attackers, the ease with which they (attackers) carted away the huge amount of cash from the vaults of the bank; having had a field day showed that insiders were involved.

“The issue of insider involvement was so glaring and cannot be ruled out. While the bank manager escaped, two of the bank staff with the keys to the strong room were around to handover the keys to the bandits with little or no threat.

“Intelligence reports at our disposal indicate that the hoodlums later parked their vehicles at a distance and trekked to the police station.

“Within this period, nobody deemed it necessary to alert the police and at the end of the day, we lost six citizens and about N19.2million cash.’’ Aduba further said that an on-the-spot assessment of the crime scene’ he conducted with other police top shots showed that the hoodlums effectively broke into the bank through the door leading to the emergency exit of the banking hall, where they were handed over the keys.

He confirmed that five policemen and a civilian were killed during the two operations, while one civilian sustained gun shot injuries and was currently recuperating in an unnamed hospital, the commissioner lamented.

On the attitude of people towards their security, the Commissioner said, “the command will once again repeat our clarion call that security is everyone’s business and it takes the concerted efforts of the police and the general public to police a community.”

“The Police Force has no magic wand to wipe out crimes and to this extent we have often enjoined members of the public to feed us with necessary information as regards any suspicious movement.”

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