There was Mayhem as mob set ablaze two bank buildings – Sterling and Diamond – located in Apapa, Lagos, after an unidentified policeman attached to one of the banks allegedly shot dead a tanker driver.
The fracas reportedly began when the unidentified mobile policeman objected to the parking of a tanker in front of the bank.
The driver was said to have refused to move the tanker, which led the mobile policeman to shoot sporadically into the air.
According to reports by ThisDay, one of the pellets hit the driver who bled to death at the scene of the incident.
Angered by the incident, the mob, most of which were said to be the driver’s colleagues, reportedly set the bank on fire and also the nearby bank building when they learned that the policeman was hiding there.
Security operatives, including anti-riot policemen, have been deployed to the area to quell the crisis.
Meanwhile, Sterling Bank, in a statement, gave an account of the event.
According to the bank, the mobile policeman had run into its building while fleeing from the irate mob.
The bank said although its security operatives disarmed the policeman, they did not hand him over to the mob.
The statement said the mob got infuriated by their inability to get a hold of the policeman, and thereby resorted to “unleashing mayhem on staff and customers” before setting the reception area of the building ablaze.
“An armed mobile policeman fleeing from an irate mob after shooting a tanker driver disrupted banking operations at the Sterling Bank branch on Creek Road this morning. He ran into the premises of the bank to escape being lynched,” the statement read.
“Security operatives attached to the bank disarmed and arrested the fleeing mobile policeman but did not hand him over to the irate mob.
“The mob got upset and attacked the bank with the intention of unleashing mayhem on staff and customers. The branch’s reception area was vandalized and set ablaze.
“The security operatives attached to the branch prevented the mob from entering the branch while evacuating staff and customers before the arrival of police reinforcement. The branch has been temporarily shut down.”
