By Emma Amaize
WARRI— TWO armed bandits were shot dead, weekend, during a gun battle with men of the Anti-Kidnapping Task Force of Delta Waterways Security Committee, DWSC, Warri, Delta State.

A gang of robbers had earlier attacked a shop at Ogbe-Ijoh market, Warri, and shot dead a couple and their sales girl for allegedly refusing to handover gold and other jewelries in their shop to them.

But policemen attached to the anti-kidnapping task force, who were on township patrol, intercepted an armed robbery gang said to have been terrorising residents of Ogbe-Ijoh, Warri and environs.

On sighting the police, the robbers opened fire to scare them, but the policemen replied with superior firepower, killing two of the hoodlums.

Sensing that they might be killed too, the other gang members took to their heels, leaving behind three locally-made pistols with three live cartridges.

While the exchange of gun fire lasted, panic gripped residents who feared that the bandits could overpower the police, but they went into jubilation when they saw two robbers lying dead after the battle.

A police source who confirmed the report said the corpses of the deceased robbers were deposited at the Central Hospital, Warri.