Six people, including three policemen and a teenage fish hawker, died Thursday in a deadly shoot out when armed robbers invaded a bank in the Lekki area of Lagos State.

The robbers, reportedly dressed in military uniforms, opened fire on the policemen whom they encountered in their bid to escape through the link bridge to Ikoyi, after robbing a branch of the First City Monument Bank, FCMB, in Lekki.

An eyewitness said that the policemen and robbers exchanged gunshots for about 30 minutes, even as motorists abandoned their vehicles on the road and fled while the shooting lasted.

The robbers were said to have eventually jumped into a speed boat and escaped.

Reacting to the incident, the Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola, said that the robbery incident could have been averted if enough police officers were available.

“Perhaps what would be would have been, but it’s sad to see all our security personnel, all our security vehicles deployed to protect one man,” said Fashola, who spoke at a political event in Lagos.

“All the vehicles we bought for the police were stationed to receive the President in Lagos. Those policemen have children and tonight their mothers will have to explain to them why daddy is not coming home,” the governor lamented.