The Abbey Hostel in Ode Remo, where some students of the Gateway ICT Polytechnic Saapade reside, was thrown into pandemonium on Thursday morning following a gun battle between the operatives of the state police command and some suspected robbers.
PUNCH Metro gathered that a yet-to-be-identified armed robber was said to have been shot dead by the police during the gun duel.
Our correspondent learnt that trouble started around 1:30 a.m. on Thursday when four suspected robbers stormed the area and started raiding the hostel.
A source in the area who did not want to be named because of fear of victimisation said students were dispossessed of their mobile phones and other electronic gadgets during the operation.
Our correspondent further learnt that while the robbery was going on, one of the residents was said to have alerted the police about the operations.
While sighting the policemen approaching the area, the suspected robbers started shooting at the anti-crime patrol team dispatched to the hostel to rescue the students from their assailants.
PUNCH Metro learnt that one of the robbers was killed in the process.
Confirming the incident in a WhatsApp chat with our correspondent on Thursday, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, said other suspects who fled the scene sustained varying degrees of injury.
“One of the four suspects was shot dead during a gun duel. The three fled the robbery scene with bullet wounds. Our men recovered a bag containing five iPhones, one Techno phone, a wristwatch, an iPod, and a power bank. Efforts are currently ongoing to apprehend other fleeing suspects,” Odutola said.
Meanwhile, when contacted to find out whether the school was aware of Thursday’s robbery incident, the spokesperson for the polytechnic, Adedayo Folorunsho, hung up the phone after she was queried for a reaction.
Several attempts to reach her through the same number failed as her number rang out.
The polytechnic and the student hostels in Sapaade have become hotbeds for robbers in recent times.
In December 2023, a student identified simply as Segun was killed in a robbery incident in the area.
Earlier in November 2023, sporadic shootings were also reported when some suspected robbers invaded students’ hostels, where some personal effects of the students were taken away.
Some female students were also reportedly molested, while others were said to have been left with gunshot wounds.
