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.
David Oyepinola Adedumoye Elewu Minister Kwara State Television (KWTV) Hikmah AbdulKareem Illyasu Abdullahi Okanlawon Taiwo Rasaq Jimoh Kwara Consultative Forum Lanre Aremu Aliyu Salihu Joseph Offorjama Olofa Of Offa Majlis For Sadakah, Zakat And Waqf Donatus Ejidike Yahaya Dumoye Abdulkadir Bolakale Sakariyah Kwara Restoration Project Millennium Development Goals Okin High School Olajumoke Monsura Gafar Rotimi Atere Adanla-Irese Alfa Yahaya Road Shehu Jimoh Dar-Al-Handasah Consultants Abdulrosheed Okiki NNPP Abdulazeez Arowona Baba-Isale Olosi Of Osi Haliru Yahaya Neuropsychiatric Hospital Alaiye Ahman Patigi Taibat Ayinke Ahmed Innocent Okoye Pakata Patriots Special Agro-industrial Processing Zone Abdulrazak Shehu Akorede Suraj Tunji Oyewale Leke Ogungbe Stephen Fasakin Baba Issa Babaloja-General Na\'Allah Oke-Odo Abdulwaheed Musa Emir Of Ilorin Tafida Of Kaiama Shuaib Jawondo Taofik Abdulkareem Babaita Folajimi Aleshinloye Gabriel Fashanu Bature Bello TIIDELab FERMA Olusola Saraki Akom Construction And Engineering Synergy Ltd Abdulganiyu Oladosu Valsolar Consortium Ibraheem Adeola Katibi Kunle Akogun Kayode Yusuf Aliyu U. Tilde Isaac Aderemi Kolawole Abubakar Atiku Shola Odetundun ASMAU PLAZA Igbomina Demola Banu Ilorin Talaka Parapo (ITP) Saka Balikis Kehinde Oba David Oyerinola Adedunmoye Micheal Imodu-Ganmo Road Monsurat Omotosho Abdulrazaq Solihudeen

