*****episode 2*****
The fact that there is always a
large population of customers
withdrawing money makes
sure that there is always a
high amount of cash
exchanged by the bank. Most
times, the bank, gives out
more than it takes in and such
money is brought in by heavily
guarded armored vehicles
from the central bank branch.
The bank made money and
business is always good and
this Thursday is not any
different.
There is an entrance for
customers and a “back door”
for taking in and bringing out
money. The entrance to this
back door is always locked
and armed police men could
usually be seen at the
entrance as they always stop
non staff of the bank from
venturing near that entrance.
When the vans bringing in
money are about to enter or
depart, the whole place would
be shut down and nobody
would go in or out until the
money has made its
designated route. That is the
standard procedure taken by
the bank in a bid to avoid
mistakes and prevent a
Vehicular .
Inside the banking hall was
spacious. The counter had
cubicles for more than 12
cashiers but they are not
always filled with them. On the
right, were the offices of the
head of banking operations
and some other offices for
some of the staff. On the left
was the customer care
department where more than
5 staff attended to the various
issues and complaints of the
customers. It is supposed to
work more like an avenue for
customers to ask questions
about the services the bank
provided that they did not
understand but they dealt
more with complains of
customer who had issues
with their ATM cards. In front
of the counter is a huge space
where the customers queue
up mostly as they wait their
turn. There are three long
chairs that can naturally
contain 3 people comfortable
at a corner opposite a section
of the corner for customers
who would rather sit while
waiting their turn to be
served. In front of the
customer care section, there is
a walkway that leads to the
bulk room which is used to
handle large sums of money.
At the opposite side of the
busy expressway, the bank
acquired a plot of land just for
its customers to park their
cars as it was becoming
difficult to drive to the next
point and turn just because
they want to do some
transaction so they would
easily park there, make use of
the pedestrian bridge to cross
the road and carry out what
ever transaction they want to
carry out and this morning, a
silver colored Toyota Hiace
pulled up into the parking
space and three men got out
of it while the driver remained
in the car. Security at the
space barely took notice of
the bus and its passenger
because they assumed that
the driver was a designated
one bringing in his bosses to
the bank.
Almost immediately, a Nissan
Serena pulled up into the front
of the bank and blocked the
entrance to the car park of the
bank itself. A traffic official
walked up to the car to see
why the bus was parking
there and to suggest other
spaces to park when two men
(one sitting beside the driver
on front and another beside
the door) got out of the
minivan clutching automatic
rifles and started firing into
the air indiscriminately. The
door on the other side
opened and the remaining 5
passengers got down leaving
only the driver in the car all of
them holding the same match
grade rifle as the men who
alighted previously.
While the two men were
shooting, everyone around
scampered for safety and that
included both customers and
sellers at the market close by.
One of the men who got out
earlier walked towards the
road and stood there with the
gun pointing parallel to his
feet now and shouted;
“Everybody get down or you
will get killed” and he opened
fire.
Some people who were
peeping and trying to see
what was happening got hot
pieces of lead shot into them
as suddenly, the ever busy
Ikorodu road became empty.
Cars had turned around with
accuracy that could only be
imagined as they all
scampered to safety. The
traffic officials controlling
traffic at the bus stop also lay
down with their faces in the
muddy water while some who
were fast ran into the market
complex.
The market at this time was
now a ghost of itself. There
was screams from people
who have been struck by stray
bullets and those who were
not hit had found somewhere
to hide. Even the disabled
beggars who sat at the
entrance of the market were
nowhere to be found. The
remaining 5 men who had
got out of the car later ran
into the bank’s compound
and within seconds, everyone
making a transaction at the
ATM machines were on the
ground one of them said
calmly;
“We don’t want to hear your
phones ring and we don’t
want you looking up. All you
should do is lay down as you
are and stay down or else, you
will be killed right there.”
story continues*****
