Offa Community Split Over Kwara High Court Ruling on 2018 Bank Robbery
The recent judgment of the Kwara State High Court regarding the 2018 Offa banks robbery has left the community divided. After a six-year trial, Justice Haleema Salman last week sentenced the remaining five suspects involved in the robbery to death by hanging. The convicts—Ayoade Akinnibosun, Azeez Salahudeen, Niyi Ogundiran, Ibikunle Ogunleye, and Adeola Abraham—were found guilty of the brutal attack that claimed the lives of 32 people, including nine policemen.
The ruling, however, has sparked differing opinions within the Offa community. On Thursday, the home branch of the Offa Descendants' Union (ODU) urged the Kwara State Government to revisit the case, raising concerns about the judgment.
The Offa robbery, which occurred on April 5, 2018, shocked the nation due to the sheer scale of the violence and loss of life, and the recent court ruling has revived emotional reactions from different quarters of the community.
Addressing journalists in Offa, the chairman of the union, Chief Tajudeen Lanre Shittu, said though the community welcomed the judgement, it expressed reservations 'that many questions have not been answered'.
They called on the state government to expedite action on the execution of the judgement.
'There is the need for a holistic probing of all the factors, notions and personalities, so as to remove the public impression that the Nigeria Police investigation on the incident is incomplete and certain individuals are being covered up.
“The community is unsatisfied with how the police command handled the investigation and expressed reservations. Those who supplied the vehicle used for the robbery and all those mentioned during the course of trial should be investigated”.
But in a statement last night, some 'leaders of thought and indigenes under the aegis of Offa Koya, Offa Kowosi, dismissed the position of the home branch, adding that it was politically motivated
They accused the ODU home branch chairman of using the community's name for cheap politics.
When contacted last night, the national secretary of national branch of the ODU, Mrs Wosilat McCarthy, said Shittu cannot be speaking for the ODU.
Cloud Tag: What's trending
Click on a word/phrase to read more about it.
Amada Jidda Okin High School Shonga Babs Iwarere Shehu Raheem Adaramaja Abdullah Janet Amudat Kwara State Fire Service GRA Sherif Sagaya Abioye Bello Abdulkadir Jimoh Ilorin West/Asa Federal Constituency JAAC Amule Kpotum Mohammed Baba National Information Technology Development Agency KWSIEC Aliyu Kora Sabi Umaru Saro Hamidat Sulyman-Yusuf RTEAN Folorunsho Erubu Wahab Isa Raliat Elelu-Habeeb Forgo Battery Ahmed Ayinla Jimoh Gbemi Saraki Isiaka Rafiu Mope Tanke Siddiq Adebayo Idowu Salawu Ahmed Bayero National Democratic Congress Kayode Yusuf Igbaja Tunde Akanbi Olanrewju Okanlawon Musa AbdulRaheem Ahmad Shayi Fatai Garuba Labaka AbdulKareem Yusuf Danhawa Obuh ASMAU PLAZA Alikinla Saudat Abdulbaqi Abdulkadri Ahmad Alaiye Yakubu Dogara Iyabo Adisa Ibiyeye Aishat Sulu-Gambari Prince Mahe Abdulkadir Kupchi Hosea Maxwell Mary Arinde Diagnostic Centre Apaokagi JMK Construction Company Limited Oye Tinuoye Ilorin Emirate Staff Association Wahab Issa Olayinka Jelili Yusuf Halimat Yusuf Dan Iya Otoge Salihu S. Yaru Taofeeq Olateju Emir Of Ilorin CBT Bursary Sulu Gambari Tafida ENetSuD Col. Ibrahim Taiwo Code Of Conduct Bureau Sheikh Hamzat Yusuf Ariyibi Ilesha-Gwanara Omar Gambari Kwara North Mahmud Ajeigbe Sanitation Exercise Dauda Adesola

