Offa community divided over robbery judgment

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Members of the apex socio-cultural organisation of indigenes of the ancient town of Offa, Offa local government area of Kwara, Offa Descendants Union (ODU), have called on the state government to revisit the judgment 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.

However, another group of leaders of thought in the Offa local government area of Kwara state, under the aegis of Offa Koya-Offa Kowosi Group, has disagreed with members of the Offa Descendants Union (ODU) over the call for further investigation on the court judgment on April 5, 2018 robbery incident.

In a statement by the chairman, Offa Koya-Offa Kowosi, Mr. Kunle Afolayan, on Thursday, the leaders of thought said that the views expressed by the home branch of the ODU, led by Chief Tajudeen Lanre Shittu, do not represent the position of the community.

The ODU, 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 about the way the investigation was handled by the police.

“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 evildoers and ensure that full justice is achieved on the heartless souls including those who have linked 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 would 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, added, “We, as a community, consider the investigation leading to the judgment 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”.
Meanwhile, the group of Offa Koya-Offa Kowosi also said that members of the ODU were allegedly scheming to use the community platform for personal political gains.

Afolayan described the trial and judgment of the State High Court in Ilorin, which sentenced the convicted suspects to death as justice duly served, just as he frowned at any attempt to undermine the efforts made by the police during investigation as well as in getting justice for the victim.

“We categorically state that neither the Offa people nor their leaders were aware of nor endorsed the views raised by the ODU chairman, Chief Tajudeen Lanre Shittu.

“It is a Machiavellian maneuver orchestrated by some powers in the state in a bid to implicate or maliciously smear the reputation of certain key figures.

“In contrast, the Offa community wholeheartedly applauds the Nigerian Police and the Judiciary for their diligence and commitment to justice, which has brought the perpetrators of the heinous Offa robbery incident to book.

“The police did a thorough and transparent investigation which was reviewed by the Office of the DPP while judgment has brought closure to the affected families and restored peace to our community.

“While we are conscious of the rights of the accused person to appeal the judgement, we must say that our people have waited for this long for justice to be done and be manifestly seen to be done”.

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