The Ekiti State Police Command has arrested 8 persons, including a serving Permanent Secretary in Ondo State over the raid of a commercial bank in Ikere Ekiti on Thursday evening.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Victor Babayemi, who gave the hint in Ado Ekiti, the state capital on Saturday, said the Permanent Secretary and others were arrested in a bush at Ijare, a border town between Ekiti and Ondo states.

The Branch Manager of the First Bank, Ikere was also reportedly arrested following the incident.

According to the police, the PS and three others were arrested while performing rituals at night in the bush through which the robbery bandits escaped.

The armed gang had stormed the first generation bank at about 5.30pm killing two persons and injuring two others during a gun duel with the men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad.

The PPRO said the Permanent Secretary and the three others were arrested at about 3am by the police.

Babayemi said the men were arrested with a live goat and other fetish materials, adding that they would have been mistaken for robbers.

“During the operation, we saw the Permanent Secretary and seven others in white apparel performing rituals, so we had to arrest them to explain their mission at the place at that unholy hour”.

Read more: Nigerian Eye