Three persons, including a mobile police officer, were on Thursday killed in a robbery attack on the First Bank branch at Sabongida-Ora, in Owan West local government area of Edo State.
An eye witness, Collins Amoni, said on Friday that the robbers, who were eight in number, entered the bank premises at about 4 p.m., using dynamites to blow open the door, before gaining access into the banking hall.
He said the robbers, who carried out their operation for more than 40 minutes, made away with undisclosed sum of money.
Amoni said the bank had just reopened for business in August after two years of closure due to incessant robbery attacks in the area.
“The robbers came without a car and left the same way. It is quite unfortunate that their mode of operation has gone beyond the comprehension of our security agencies.''
Confirming the robbery, the Edo North Area Commander of the Nigeria Police Force, Mr Gabriel Haruna, said they were on top of the situation.
He said the robbers only succeeded in taking away money meant to be loaded into the bank's ATM machine.
“It is true that the incident happened on Thursday afternoon and one of my men was killed during the attack.
“The robbers gained entry into the bank with explosives, but could not gain access into the bank vault. They only went away with money that was to be loaded into the ATM machine.''