One of the prosecution witnesses in April 5, 2018, Offa robbery trial, Hitila Hassan, has said that more than 20 units of AK47 rifles were carted away by hoodlums from the armoury of the police station in Offa during the robbery attack.
Speaking at the resumed hearing of the case at Kwara state High Court in Ilorin on Friday, the prosecution witness, a police inspector from the Nigeria Police headquarters, also said that one Michael Adikwu now dead and a dismissed police officer led the robbery incident that claimed 33 lives including nine policemen and women.
The witness said that five accused persons who were accomplices of the late Adikwu, now standing trial include Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibikunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Salaudeen Azeez and Niyi Ogundiran.
The prosecution witness told the court that the footage of the closed circuit television (CCTV) of the banks disclosed the identity of the accused persons culminating into their arrest.
Mr Hassan, an officer attached to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Intelligence Response Team (IRT), said that other members of the gang are still at large. IRT was set up by the former IGP Ibrahim Idris and it is headed by Assistant Commissioner of police (ACP) Abba Kyari.
The police officer added that his team came to Ilorin at the behest of the then IGP Idris to fish out the perpetrators of the dastardly act.
He said that his team worked with the officers of the Kwara state criminal investigation department, saying that “we visited the armoury of the scenes of the incident and Offa police station where we discovered that no fewer than 21 AK47 rifles were carted away by the armed robbers.
“We also gathered from the accused persons that the late Michael Adikwu after the attacks on banks headed for the police station and started shouting that he had come on a revenge mission for his dismissal from the force. Then he started shooting sporadically in every direction at the station.
“Having carefully watched the footages of the CCTV we identified the faces in the camera and the circulated in the social media for Nigerians to assist us in the arrest of the culprits. Through that, we generated our intelligence that led to the arrest of one Ibikunle Ogunleye in Oro, Irepodun local government area of the state.
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“Initially, he denied having anything to do with the incident but when confronted with CCTV evidence, he confessed and said he was one of the persons inside the banks wielding AK47 rifles. His arrest assisted us in the arrest of four other accused persons standing trial”, he said.
An exhibit keeper at the Kwara state headquarters of the Nigeria Police, Ilorin, Inspector Dauda, testified that on April 10, 2018, a former Divisional Police officer in Offa local government, CSP Danjuma Adamu, handed to him some weapons and ammunition allegedly used in the robbery operation.
Dauda said that the ammunition included 39 expended 7.6mm ammunition, 4 expended 5.6mm, 2 expended blank cartridges, 4 used bullet, One life 5.6mm ammunition, one cartridge safety box on which Ikoyi South West, Lagos, Nigeria was written and a damaged padlock.
He also said that on April 15, 2018, Inspector Hassan attached to the Inspector General of Police rescue team also brought one Lexus Jeep on which a sticker bearing “Saraki” was written with it key, a Compressor Mercedes Benz and four Stickers bearing “Saraki “
The prosecution tendered all the items as exhibits in the case. Yesterday sitting commenced around 9 am and ended at 4:23 pm Justice Halimat Salman adjourned the case till February 19 and 20, 2019 for the continuation of hearing.
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