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.
Kaiama Issa Memunat Moyosore Idris Amosa Saidu Oloje Ilorin Anchor Men And Women Michael Nzwekwe Hassan Abdulazeez Elewu PPS Mubarak Oladosu Fatai Garuba Labaka Abdulquawiy Olododo Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa Bolaji Abdullahi Agboola Babatunde Salary Femi Gbajabiamila Ile Arugbo Manzuma Plat Technologies Kemi Adeosun Abdulbaqi Jimoh Oniwasi Agbaye Gwanara Kale Ayo Salihu Yahaya Susan Modupe Oluwole Na\'Allah Ahmad Belgore Bisi Oyeleke James Kolo Apaola Folorunsho Erubu Kehinde Baale Kwara State Fire Service Atiku Abubakar TIC Ilesha-Baruba-Gwanara Sola Saraki Educational Foundation Roheemat Hammed Baba Issa Awoye Afolayan Abdulrazak Shehu Akorede Saad Omo Iya Bola Ahmed Tinubu Abdulwahab Ololele SARS Seed Technologies Emir Of Ilorin Kwara State Internal Revenue Service Royal FM Umar Adelodun Chartered Institute Of Personnel Management Of Nigeria Hamza Usman Baba Idris Sheriff Olanrewaju Amos Justus Sayo Ilorin Water Reticulation Bukola Saraki Prince Sunday Fagbemi Federal Polytechnic Offa Oyin-Zubair Olufolake Abdulrazaq Students Union Government Okala Baba Mohammed Lawal Abdulrahman Abdullahi Kayode Oro Grammar School Old Students Association Kayode Yusuf Pius Abioje Musbau A. Akanji Age AbdulKareem Olawuyi Umar Yakubu Jaja Odo-Owa Post-utme EFCC Lanre Issa-Onilu

