Offa bank robbery: Group urges Kwara govt to probe personalities mentioned

Members of the apex sociocultural organization of indigenes of the ancient town of Offa, Offa local government area of Kwara state, Offa Descendants Union (ODU), have called on the state government to revisit the judgement of April 5, 2018 robbery incident.

Making the call in the 13th century ancient town on Thursday, chairman, home branch of the organization, Chief Tajudeen Lanre Shittu, on behalf of the umbrella body, said that holistic probing of all the factors, notions and personalities involved in the incident is necessary to remove public impression and conclusion that the said Nigeria Police investigation of the April 2018 Offa bank robbery is incomplete.

The people, in the statement, titled, ‘RE: Ilorin high court judgement of April 2018 on Offa bank robbery’ and addressed to the state commissioner of Police, said that the call is “Offa community’s unnegotiable demand and prayers”.

It will be recalled that the Offa community, on April 5, 2018 witnessed a gruesome killing of about 33 lives (both police officers and civilians) when all the commercial banks in the town, except two were attacked by dare devil armed robbers who carted away millions of naira and assets.

Also, the Offa Divisional Police, being the first point of attack, had its armoury looted and had all its officers on duty killed in the swift operations.

The people, who said that they were appreciative of the conviction of five suspects involved in the robbery incident by the state High Court, added that, “Offa, as a community, has reservations for the way the investigation was handled by the police.

The statement reads, “We are aware that they have their rights to appeal to the Supreme Court of Nigeria, but we will never relent to pursue any attempt made by evil doers and ensure that full justice is achieved on the heartless souls including those who have link with them during the course of investigation.

“This is a major concern to our community and a very important course we have resolved to pursue to a logical conclusion. More so, the Offa community will like the investigation to be extended further in the following regards to identify and unravel: The people who supplied the vehicle used for the robbery. The people mentioned during the course of investigation.

“The Offa people, who said that they were not satisfied with the way the police ended the investigation and we, as a community, consider the investigation leading to the judgement as inconclusive and an attempt to cover and protect the names of those who were identified by the robbers during investigation.

“We, therefore, vehemently call for further and thorough investigation and arrest of those who provided logistics to the robbers. All the names mentioned by the convicted persons should be investigated thoroughly for proper justice to be served.

“We, therefore, call on Kwara State Government to revisit the incident through the holistic probing
of all the factors, notions and personalities, so as to remove the public impression and conclusion
that the said Nigeria Police investigation of the April 2018 Offa bank robbery is incomplete.”

 

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