Nigerian authorities release three new photos of bank robbery suspect killed by police

Three separate images of a suspected bank robber who was gunned down by an armed patrolman a week ago could shed new light on the slaying of the man, whose body was found Friday on the Camp Road flyover in Lekki, Lagos.

In the first, a male figure appears to be climbing a flight of stairs, apparently preparing to leave a bank and see out his dying moments as a police officer pulls up next to him.

The second shows the attacker retreating toward the south side of the bank building, apparently as if to escape detection.

In the third, released Saturday by the Nigeria Police Force, the body of the man can be seen lying in a manhole alongside Camp Road.

Nigeria Police via CNN A new photo released Saturday showing a suspected bank robber who was gunned down by an armed patrolman a week ago, raising new questions about the fatal shooting.

With all these new images, new questions continue to be raised about the fatal shooting, in which the assault rifle of the officer was found nearby at the scene.

They were released in conjunction with the murder trial of the officer, Paul Samuel, who reportedly shot the bank robber after the robber allegedly threatened to detonate a timer bomb near the bank entrance.

An NPC soldier from an armored vehicle keeps an eye on it.

Police officials claim the suspect, a contracted security guard who had been hired to protect the bank, walked in with an assault rifle and discharged shots at the police officer from a close range when they first encountered him. The bullet that hit Samuel traveled from the dead man’s head and travelled through his chest, the officials said.

The suspect was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital, police officials said.

Officers in the area have since put up fences around their banks in their own security measures against would-be terrorists.

The incident comes amid a spate of gruesome gun slayings of women and children suspected to be practicing witches in Nigeria, which underpins the urgent need for justice and accountability in cases like this one, said the Reverend Emmanuel Nwadioke, executive director of the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA).

“These Nigerian institutions that need to protect us as citizens fail to do that in one way or the other,” Nwadioke said. “Our kids are waylaid and the children of well-meaning Nigerians are seen as property.”

Authorities say they recovered an AK47 riffle from the remains of the man, as well as dynamite, handcuffs and special locks.

On its Twitter account, the Department of State Services, a security body within the Nigerian government, said some suspect explosives had been recovered from the body.

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