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.
Yusuf Lanre Badmus Yusuf Lanre Badmas Akande Idowu Ayoola Muhammed CKNG Mohammed Yahaya Barki Adebayo Mohammed Kamaldeen Centre For Digital Economy Oniyangi Kunle Sulaiman Abubakar Usman Jos Bukola Saraki Aliyu Muhammed Oba Sulaiman Asude Oladimeji Thompson Diagnostic Centre COVID Sam Onile Shao Abdulazeez Arowona Saeedat Aliyu Rachael Obisesan The Herald Doyin Group Curfew Adedayo Yusuf Abdulkareem Samuel Olusegun Adedayo ARMTI Kawu Baraje Dan Iya Of Ilorin Adamu Attah Olateju Lukman Fareedah Dankaka Olaitan Adefila Joseph Daudu Mohammed Abdulahi Mohammed Khadijat Kubura Elerin Of Erin-Ile GAMA Jalala Oloyede Tunde Mukaila Mustapha Saadu Alanamu Shuaib Abdulkadir Olajumoke Monsura Gafar Amina Susa\'a De Ahmed Toyin Falola Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital Opaleke Bukola Iyabo CBT General Hospital, Offa Ita-Nmo Market Sango-UITH Road Popo-Igbonna General Tunde Idiagbon International Airport Amule Ayodele Shittu Aliyu Kora Sabi Age AbdulKareem Face Masks Akeem Olatunji Flights To Ilorin Yakubu Shaaba Ilorin Abraysports FC Joseph Alex Offorjama JAMB Magaji Erubu Balikis Jawondo Yemi Osinbajo Tuesday Assayomo Surajudeen Akanbi Elerinjare Saliu Ajibola Ajia Osi John Obuh Mustapha Olanipekun Oyedun Juliana Funke Ganiyu Taofiq

