Offa robbery principal suspect narrates how he was offered an N10m, visa to implicate Saraki
One of the principal suspects in the resumed trial of the Offa bank robbery case at the Kwara state High Court, Ilorin, Ayoade Akinninbosun on Wednesday told the court how the former Commander, Intelligence Response Team (IRT) squad, ACP Abba Kyari, offered him N10million to implicate former Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, in the armed robbery case.
Also, the suspect said that Kyari promised to give him a visa to any country of his choice if he took the option to implicate Saraki, adding that he turned down the offer.
Five suspects, Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibikunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham and two others were charged to court by the Police for criminal conspiracy to rob the banks, murder of nine policemen and other citizens, and illegal possession of firearms.
It is recalled that about 10 persons were feared killed in the incident while other residents of Offa sustained serious injuries.
However, during cross-examination at the court by the Defence Counsel at the court, Mr Mathias Emeribe (SAN) Akinninbosun said he was offered a million to claim that Saraki asked them to carry out the bloody robbery operation.
“He said I should admit and say Saraki was the one who asked us to go and rob. I told him I won’t do that. That I will rather die for what I didn’t do than lie against an innocent man.
“He asked me to think over his offer very well. At this point, he ordered officers Hassan and Mashood to return me to the cell. A separate one different from where others are and they should stop torturing me,” he said.
Akinninbosun said he was not allowed to write any statement in Ilorin except his biodata until they were conveyed to Abuja in a tinted bus, where he was later kept in a place called an “abattoir”.
There, the suspect said some herdsmen were killed in his presence, adding that he was mercilessly tortured and shot in the leg to implicate Saraki.
Akinninbosun maintained that Saraki has nothing to do with the robbery case.
“We were like 15 to 20 taken to Abuja, I only know a few of them. We were put outside and served meals, but I couldn’t eat because my hands were paralyzed due to the torture I went through in their hands in Ilorin. They asked Kunle Ogunleye to feed me.
“They separated five of us, put us in the generator house and Officer Hassan Attila ordered they brought some men. They went to bring five Fulani men. They brought them and killed them all in my presence.
“I was told, that was not a film. He asked me to stretch my legs and shot my right leg. He shot the second leg but when I tried shifting the leg, it hit my tomb,” he said.
The defendant then went ahead to show the gunshot wound on his legs to the Court.
Akinninbosun added that one of the robbery suspects, Micheal Adikwu, was shot dead in his presence, a situation that got him terrified and made him agree to implicate Saraki in a prepared statement before the press.
However, the presiding judge, Justice Alamat Salman, adjourned the case till February 13, 2023.