The Kogi State Police Command has verified that three commercial banks in Egbe and Odo-Ere in the Yagba-West Local Government Area (LGA) of the state were robbed on Tuesday, killing four people and wounding many more.

Idris Dauda Babban, the State Commissioner of Police, acknowledged the incident in Lokoja, but said he was waiting for details from the area commander.

According to eyewitnesses, the incident began about 3 p.m. on Tuesday and lasted for two hours while police officers attempted to repel the robbers.

According to reports, the hoodlums arrived in Egbe town in a Toyota highlander SUV and other cars believed to have been stolen from their owners, as well as three Bajaj motorcycles.

The armed robbers were said to have began the attack around 3 p.m. on Tuesday when they stormed the Egbe Divisional Police Station and began shooting irregularly.

As a result, they allegedly destroyed the police station with improvised explosive devices, leading inhabitants to flee for their lives.

According to sources, the thieves left the Divisional Police Headquarters and proceeded to an Access Bank Plc branch in the town during the operation, which lasted approximately two hours.

They are claimed to have killed the on-duty security guard, as well as one other person, and injured numerous others, who were brought to the ECWA hospital in Egbe.

The heavily armed thieves then descended heavily on a First Bank branch in Egbe, which had been out of business for more than two years due to constant robbery attacks, according to reports.

After the successful operation in Egbe, the robbers were said to have moved towards Odo-Ere, headquarters of Yagba-West Local government.

They were said to have had a field day at the UBA branch in the town after attacking the Police station as residents ran for their lives.

However, it learnt that a security staff of the bank was killed in the bank premises and a lady in her 20s was killed by stray bullets as the robbers, after a successful operation, started shooting indiscriminately. (NAN)