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.
Ibrahim Abduquadri Abikan Mahe Abdulkadir 08001000100 Iyaloja-General Ahmed Ayinla Jimoh Ishaq Oloyede Adisa Logun Saka Abimbola Isau Tsaragi-Share Tinubu Olayinka Olaogun Sheikh Ridhwanullah El-ilory Public Holiday All Peoples Party Wale Oladepo Aminat Ahmed Elelu United Nigeria Congress Party Harrison Osauwagboe Aliyu U. Tilde Ope Saraki Buhari HICA April 11 Federal Allocation Madawaki Of Ilorin UTME Naira Redesign Oniwasi Agbaye Risikat Lawal Dorcas Afeniforo Ilorin South Constituency Seun Bolaji Abubakar Ndakene Katibi Ibraheem Adeola Ekiti Saka Keji Abubakar Suleiman Bola Magaji Nupe Femtech Rachael Obisesan Hassanat Bello Baba Issa LABTOP Joseph Bamigboye Hausa Yusuf Olaolu Ali Kunle Suleiman Magaji Are Ilorin Curfew Jumoke F. Ajao Ibrahim Jawondo Hassan Saliu Offa Poly Kwara State Government Harafat E. Mukadam General Hospital, Offa Abdulrahman Abdulrazak Quran Valsolar Consortium Aiyedun Kishira Ahman Pategi Ibrahim Abiodun Ishaq Salman Suleiman Alege Kuranga Shururat Olatinwo Olofa Of Offa Suleiman Yahya Alapansapa Bankole Omishore James Ayeni Aisha Ahman-Pategi KWASSIP Abdulganiyu Salahudeen IESA Ishola Balogun Fulani

