Five members of a gang have been convicted of criminal possession of firearms, armed robbery, and culpable homicide for their involvement in the Offa robbery.
Justice Haleemah Salman of the Kwara State High Court stated that the offences were punishable by death.
The leader of the robbery, Michael Adikwu, died in police custody, while the other five were arraigned and pleaded not guilty. The individuals arraigned were Ayoade Akinnibosun, Azeez Salahudeen, Niyi Ogundiran, Ibikunle Ogunleye, and Adeola Abraham.
Justice Haleema Salman began reading the judgment at 9:14 a.m.
Rotimi Jacob SAN served as the lead prosecuting counsel, while lead defence counsel Nathaniel Emeribe was absent but represented by A.S. Abdullahi.
According to the police First Information Report (FIR), on 5th April 2018, a group of armed bandits invaded the Offa community, killing nine serving police officers, looting the Offa Police Divisional Armoury, and stealing 21 AK 47 rifles and other ammunition.
The FIR further stated that the robbers took to the streets of the community, shooting sporadically and killing 21 innocent Nigerians. They also allegedly raided six financial institutions: First Bank, Guarantee Trust Bank, Zenith Bank, Eco-Bank, Union Bank, and Micro Finance Bank, and made off with a large sum of money.
The FIR noted that the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) led by DCP Abba Kyari and other arms of the Force arrested the suspects and indicated that during the investigation, the suspects confessed to participating in the robbery, and some of the weapons used were recovered from them.
More Details later…
