By Evelyn Usman & Victor Akpa-Fresh

LAGOS – Three suspected members of a car snatching syndicate, were killed on Monday evening, during a gun battle with men of the Special Anti Robbery Squad of the Lagos State Police Command, in Iba area of the state.

This came as a member of the four-man robbery gang, which stormed Our Lady of Fatimah Catholic Church,  Surulere, last Wednesday, has been arrested, with the recovery of over N1 million and other loots.

The robbers on two motorcycles, reportedly intercepted a Honda car driven by  a lawyer, who stopped to receive a call on Oduduwa Crescent, Ikeja, at about 8.20 p.m., on Sunday and he was ordered out before they speed off in the car.

Unknown to them, the car had a tracking device which aided a team of policemen from SARS, personally led by the officer in charge, Abba Kyari. The policemen reportedly trailed the stolen vehicle to Iba, where the robbers abandoned it.

They reportedly laid ambush for the robbers, who, according to the command spokesman, Mr Samuel Jinadu, came back 18 hours later to pick up the car, only to be confronted by the policemen. Attempt by the robbers to respond to the policemen fire-for-fire failed as they were all gunned down in the process. Two locally made cut-to size guns were reportedly recovered from the robbers.

Meanwhile, the arrested suspect of the four-man robbery gang, which stormed Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, Surulere, who has been on the Lagos State Command wanted list, was discovered to be based in Ghana, from where he visits Nigeria for operation.

Charles and members of his gang, stormed the church premises at about 1.30 a.m., in two vehicles, where they reportedly made for the church’s vault, carting away over N10 million and a bag containing  laptops and other valuables. They were also said to have collected an unspecified sum of money from the Rev. Father before zooming off unmolested.

Charles told journalists while being paraded, yesterday, at the command’s headquarter’s, Ikeja, that a former security man with the church gave them information on the porosity of security and  where the vault was located.