DPP advice on robbery in Offa not exonerated…

The Kwara State Government says it would be abdicating its duties if it ignored evidence linking Bukola Saraki to the 2018 Offa robbery.

The government was reacting to recent comments by Saraki, a former Senate president, who had described the criminal charge against him as a witch hunt intended to “embarrass my person”.

On April 17, the Kwara state government filed a 20-count indictment against Saraki and Abdulfatah Ahmed, the state’s former governor, over allegations they armed convicted robbery suspects in Offa.

Other defendants in the case include Yusuf Abdulwahab, Ahmed’s former chief of staff, and Alabi Olalekan, another aide.

● ROBBERY AND CONVICTIONS

Several banks were raided on 5 April 2018 and a police station was attacked in Offa, a town in Kwara state, resulting in 33 casualties including 12 police officers.

In September 2024, a Kwara high court found the five defendants – Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibikunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Salahudeen Azeez and Niyi Ogundiran – guilty of illegal possession of firearms, armed robbery and culpable homicide.

The defendants were sentenced to death.

In January the appeals court upheld the conviction and sentence of the five convicts.

● THE “SARAKI LINK”

Hours after the robbery incident, the police invited Saraki and claimed that Akinnibosun, the alleged kingpin, claimed that the gang members were Saraki’s political thugs.

Police also said Akinnibosun claimed to have received vehicles and cash gifts from Saraki through Abdulwahab.

Speaking during the parade of suspects, Akinnibosun told reporters that his group had been working for Saraki since he was governor.

The alleged kingpin also told reporters that Saraki was unaware of their involvement in the armed robbery.

Akinnibosun, however, made a breakthrough during a court hearing in March 2019, where he claimed that Abba Kyari, then deputy commissioner of police, had asked him and the other defendants to implicate Saraki.

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He claimed he was threatened to make confessional statements.

Saraki has since denied any link to the armed robbery suspects.

● SARAKI’S RESPONSE

In his reaction to the criminal charge filed against him by the state government, Saraki said the robbery had been investigated by the police team from the Office of the Inspector General of Police.

Saraki added that two separate legal notices dated June 22, 2018 and August 23, 2018, from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) “stated that there was no evidence linking me directly or indirectly to the robbery incident.”

“Based on the advice of the DPP, four suspects have been charged to court by the Kwara State Government,” Saraki said in a statement released last week. [TheCable]

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