By Chiemelie Ezeobi
There was pandemonium at FESTAC Town in Amuwo Odofin area of Lagos on Friday morning after some land grabbers engaged in a gun duel around 4th and 5th Avenues, inciting panic amongst the residents of the area.
It was the sound of sporadic gunshots that the residents mistook for bank robbery and kicked off speculations that bank robbers had besieged Diamond Bank and First City Monument Bank (FCMB).
Recycling the broadcast message that was circulated during the recent FESTAC robbery incident that occurred months ago, some groups of mischievous persons incited the public unnecessarily.
However, the Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, said immediately the information filtered out, they had deployed policemen from the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) and the Festac Police Division to douse the situation.
He also said they deployed both air and land power to man the canal corridor in the area , adding that the patrol would be sustained throughout this weekend.
Also reacting to the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer,
Lagos State Command, SP Dolapo Badmos, debunked claims of an armed robbery attack in FESTAC.
She said, “The attention of the lagos state command has been drawn to a false alarm been raised and circulated on social media about Armed Robbery Operations going on at 4th Avenue, Festac Town, in three new generational banks and at the same time the killing of a customer today 15th day of July 2016.”
Further details later
