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Tag: Michael Adikwu

  • VC, Corps Dean, want hate speeches criminalized

    Prof. Michael Adikwu, Vice Chancellor of University of Abuja, and Prof. Al-Hassan Conteh, Deputy Dean of African Diplomatic Corps, have underscored the need to criminalize hate speech in order to curb it.

    They spoke with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on sideline of activities marking the 25th anniversary week of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda on Friday in Abuja.

    They decried hate speeches as abusive speeches or writings that could express prejudice against a particular group especially on the basis of race, religion or sexual orientation.

    They, therefore, urged governments at all level to exercise political will to criminalize hate speech in order to achieve the desired positive goals.

    Adikwu said although hatred is not learnt, there is the need to sensitize people early enough to abhor hate speeches and guard against its potential negative effects such as genocide.

    According to him, human character is such that it emits hatred, which is why the university collaborated with Rwandan Embassy to sensitize people that hatred was not beneficial.

    Read Also: Yoruba elders warn against hate speech

    Adikwu said: “We keep talking about hate speech and the aim is to prevent something like genocide, but I also believe that there is no human problem that cannot be solved.

    “More so, we do not lack the capacity to solve our problems; I believe we have enough people with brain capacity to solve our problems.

    “If we work very hard, there is no human problem without solution; so what we are stressing here is the need to sit-up to prevent genocide in future, particularly in Nigeria.”

    On his part, Conteh, who is also Ambassador of Liberia to Nigeria, urged governments to be steadfast in the promotion of peace and solidarity.

    Conteh said: “absence of peace leads to lot of things, especially this terrible event that took place in Rwanda in 1994.

    “The lesson we must learn now is that reconciliation is very necessary; as such, governments must begin to criminalize hate speeches that are fast destroying the fabrics of society.”

    NAN

  • Offa robbery: Court refuses post-mortem of dead suspect

    Kwara State High Court, Ilorin, yesterday refused the exhumation of the body of the principal suspect in the April 5, 2018 Offa robbery, Michael Adikwu, for post-mortem.

    But the court granted the prayer of the defence asking for an independent examination of the alleged gunshot injuries sustained by the first, second and third accused.

    The accused, Ayoade Akinnibosun (first accused person), Ibikunle Ogunleye (second accused person), Adeola Abraham (third accused person), Salaudeen Azeez (fourth accused person) and Niyi Ogundiran (fifth accused person) were in court.

    Ogundiran had told the court how the police extracted his confessional statement from him under duress.

    The first, second and third accused persons had at the last adjourned date accused the police of shooting them in the legs to instil fear in them before extracting statement from them.

    They alleged that the police shot dead Adikwu while in their custody, contrary to the police’s claim that he died of an ailment in hospital.

    As a result, defence counsel Mathias Emeribe said: “In view of the fact that the four accused persons have given their evidence, I hereby apply for an independent medical examination of the legs of the first, second and third accused persons to determine whether the wounds on their legs are caused by gunshots.

    “I also ask for an order to carry out autopsy on the death of Michael Adikwu, the principal suspect, to find corroboration to evidence of especially the fifth accused person as well as the other three persons.

    “The essence of this is not unconnected with the fact that Adikwu was initially one of the accused persons charged with others and it is important that one of their own was allegedly killed before them.

    The fact of the cause of the death must be determined in order to find out the truth as to how the confessional statements were obtained.

    Read also: Two feared injured as another building collapses

    “The name Michael Adikwu was repeated consistently by the four accused persons in this trial within trial and I think it will be in the interest of justice for the accused persons to put in a proper defence to get the result of that medical examination.”

    But prosecution counsel Prof Wahab Egbewole (SAN) opposed the application, describing it as strange.

    Said he: “I urge the court to refuse this strange application.

    Justice is not one-way traffic. It is available to all the parties and not only for the accused.

    “For the record, this is a trial within trial specifically to determine the voluntariness of the statements of the accused persons.

    “It is not for the court to look for evidence to corroborate his allegation. It is for him to do that.

    “This application is tantamount to inviting your lordship to come to the arena. The application is clearly shopping for evidence. The shooting of Adikwu has no relevance to the issue of a trial within trial.”

    Having listened to both parties, Justice Halima Salman took a shot break before delivering her ruling.

    In her ruling, Justice Salman said: “The court will avail the parties the facilities available in this case. It is, therefore, in the interest of justice and fair hearing to allow for a medical examination to know whether the healed wounds on the three suspects’ legs emanated from gunshots. I, therefore, grant the first prayer.

    “On the post-mortem examination of the body, there is nothing the autopsy will add to this case. It is baseless and pointless to grant the second prayer.”

    She ordered the registrar to prepare the “enrol order today to be served on the defence and prosecution.”

    Justice Salman adjourned the case till April 8 for continuation of defence in trial within trial.

     

  • Police want me to implicate Saraki, says Offa robbery suspect

    One of the suspects in the April 5th, 2018 bloody bank robbery in Offa, Offa local government area of Kwara state, Ayoade Akinnibosun on Friday revealed the police asked him to implicate Senate President Bukola Saraki.

    Akinnibosun alongside two other suspects, Ibikunle Ogunleye (2nd accused person) and Adeola Abraham (3rd accused person) gave testimonies of how police extracted statements from them under duress at a Kwara state High Court, sitting in Ilorin.

    Other accused persons Salaudeen Azeez and Niyi Ogundiran were in court.

    The three accused persons also said that the principal suspect Michael Adikwu in the robbery incident was shot dead by one Inspector Vincent attached to the police Intelligence Response Team (IRT).

    The police high command had reportedly announced that Adikwu slumped in their custody and was rushed to the hospital before he finally died.

    READ ALSO: Absence of defence counsel stalls Offa robbery case

    IRT, which office in Abuja, is headed by Deputy Commissioner of Police Abba Kyari Akinnibosun, who is the first accused person, Ogunleye and Abraham in the Offa robbery incident were examined and cross-examined by their counsel Mathias Emeribe and Prosecution counsel Razaq Gold in a trial within trial on how they were tortured and threatened by the police to make confessional statements.

    Prosecution witness Inspector Hitila Hassan had on Thursday told the court that the suspects voluntarily gave their statements under his supervision.

    Lead Prosecuting Counsel Prof Wahab Egbewole sought to tender the statements as exhibit but defence counsel Mathias Emeribe objected.

    Mr. Emeribe argued that the statements were not voluntarily taken, noting they fell short of the provisions of the Evidence Act particularly sections 28 and 29.

    At Friday’s proceedings, Akinnibosun said: “Abba Kyari told me to mention the name of Senate President Bukola Saraki that he gave me the guns for the operations. But I declined to do contending that my life is at stake.

    “He promised that they would reward me handsomely and set me free if I can indict Senator Saraki.

    “When I disagreed they called some policemen to take me back to their cell. During this time my hands were tied to my legs in the back. Their children are in America and Europe you are allowing yourselves to be used as political thugs.”

    Akinnibosun added he was the leader of Kwara South Liberation

    Movement mobilising young jobless graduates for the Senator representing Kwara South district in the upper legislative chamber, Dr Rafiu Ibrahim.

    The essence is to secure government jobs for the boys, he said.

    Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibikunle Ogunleye and Adeola Ibrahim gave graphic details of their horrifying experience allegedly in the police custody in Abuja.

    During one of their encounters at the police IRT ‘theatre room,’ they said in their presence Inspector Vincent allegedly shot dead five Fulani men.

    ‘The theatre room,’ according to is the generator room of the IRT’s office and it also doubles as where suspects are extra-judicially executed.

    The trio added that it was in the same ‘theatre room that Inspector Vincent otherwise known as ‘Mr. Torture,’ allegedly shot dead Michael Adikwu for failing to indict them in the robbery incident.

    According to Ibikunle Ogunleye “they brought the late Adikwu to implicate us and he said he had not met any of us in his life that is why Mr. Torture shot him to death. “

    Presiding judge, Justice Halimat Salman adjourned the case to March 25th for continuation of trial within trial.

  • PDP urges N/Assembly to investigate killing of Nigerian soldiers

    …says Presidency condoning extra-judicial killings in Kwara

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged the National Assembly to commence investigation into alleged compromises that led to the killing of over 100 Nigerian soldiers by Boko Haram insurgents, particularly as the Buhari Presidency has refused to offer explanations on the matter.

    The PDP also accused the Presidency of condoning extra-judicial killing in the country and demanded an immediate forensic inquiry into the reported killing of a principal witness in the Offa robbery incident, Michael Adikwu, in the custody of the Kwara State police command.

    The main opposition party said investigation into the killing of  soldiers in Metele, Borno State, has become imperative given reports of compromises and alleged failure of the authorities to promptly act on a reported threat by insurgents to attack the base and other military locations in the area, a few days before the attack.

    A statement on Monday by the spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the probe has become expedient going by a disturbing video circulating in the public domain, showing soldiers, weeks before the attack, giving accounts of their neglect by the authorities, resulting in their vulnerability to insurgents.

    The statement said, “This is particularly worrisome given apprehensions that President Muhammadu Buhari has been distracting the military by dragging our Service Chiefs to participate in his re-election campaign activities, instead of concentrating on their statutory duties.

    “Moreover, the apparent insensitivity of the Buhari Presidency to the killing as well as alleged moves by the authorities to sweep the matter under the carpet has created despondency among the citizens.

    “The PDP therefore urges the National Assembly to unravel the compromises leading to the killing of our soldiers and those behind them”

    Read Also: 2019: We will end APC’s reign in Lagos — PDP

    Similarly, the party also insisted that an inquest into the extra-judicial killing of the principal suspect in the Offa robbery has become essential following conflicting reports by the police over the cause and circumstances surrounding the death in police custody.

    The PDP recalled that the police had initially claimed that the witness was killed in the course of arrest, but later claimed that he died in the course of investigation, only to again declare that he was discovered dead just as he was about to be taken to court.

    “The PDP notes that the conflicting reports by the police only point towards an attempt to cover a case of extra-judicial killing, ostensibly with a view to muting vital information and derailing the course of justice in the matter which has since assumed a political dimension targeted at key opposition leaders.

    “The PDP therefore calls for a public investigation into the circumstances surrounding the killing, which will require an open questioning of all those involved in the arrest and detention of the suspect”.

  • Offa robbery: Police diverting attention from case of extra judicial killing – Saraki

    The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki has accused the police authorities of diversion in the alleged extra judicial killing of a prime suspect in the April 5, 2018 Offa robbery incident in which 33 persons were killed by the bandits.

    Police had reported that the suspect, Michael Adikwu had died in detention in prompting Saraki to demand inquiry into the circumstances that led to the suspect’s death.

    In response, the police authorities have said that the death of Adikwu would not in any way stall the trial of the remaining suspects.

    Police investigation had linked Saraki to some of the robbery suspects who claimed that they received empowerment from the President of the Senate and that they were in the past, used by Saraki to disrupt elections in Kwara State.

    But in a statement on Friday by his media Adviser, Yusuph Olaniyonu, the President of the Senate said that the response by the Police was a mere diversionary tactic.

    According to him, the action of the police was aimed at evading the serious issues of human rights abuse, extra-judicial killing and politicization of criminal investigations.

    Read Also: Saraki has personalised Senate, says Ndume

    The statement clarified that when mentioned in his statement on Wednesday that he had been vindicated, Saraki was not referring to the outcome of a case which is just about to commence.

    Rather, the statement said he was pointing to the belated admission by the police that Michael Adikwu, the prime suspect, had died in custody, a fact that was initially denied by the police when he (Senate President) raised it a few months ago.

    He alleged a cover up by the police in the mishandling of the investigations and politicisation of the process, adding that the police authorities have continued to make inconsistent statements and committing more blunders.

    The statement said, “The police, while reacting to our disclosure that the prime suspect had died in custody, caused their spokesman, Moshood Jimoh, to respond that: ‘Michael Adikwu is in police custody in one of the South-west states…helping in the investigation’. The same Police have equally documented the claim that the suspect died during arrest. What a contradiction!

    “It is surprising that the Police which initially allowed the said Adikwu to grant interviews to several national newspapers while in custody, refused to inform the public that the suspect had died until the Attorney General of Kwara State mentioned it on November 21, 2018 in the course of his address to the High Court in Ilorin while applying to amend the charge sheet”.

    Saraki urged President Muhammadu Buhari to institute inquiry into the death of Adikwu because it has several implications for the country’s legal system and its engagement with the international community.

    This, according to him, was necessary, in view of the consistent allegations of human rights abuse and extra judicial killings against the Federal Government by the international communities and foreign rights organisations.

    He recalled that the international community has consistently cited issues of human rights abuses and extra judicial killings by Nigerian security forces for refusal to sell weapons to the Nigerian government in the fight against the Boko Haram insurgents.

    “One of the key issues those of us who have been engaging with the international community on the need for them to support Nigeria in the fight against terrorism in the North-east region through supply of arms, provision of training and other technical aid has been confronting is that of the flagrant abuse of human rights and extra-judicial killings by our security agencies.

    “This is an instance of what these international partners complain about. The Presidency should make a point that the present government does not tolerate human rights abuse, extra-judicial killing, politically-motivated criminal investigation and refusal to comply with global best practices by security agencies by instituting an inquiry into the case of the death of this suspect”, Saraki added.

    The Senate President called for diligent prosecution of the Offa robbery case so that justice can be done to the innocent victims of the April 5 attacks, the suspects facing trial and the state whose peace was disturbed by the sad incident.

  • Offa robbery: Reps to investigate death of key suspect

    The House of Representatives is to investigative the circumstances surrounding the death of Michael Adikwu, a key suspect in the Offa, Kwara State, bank robbery.

    The incident, which occurred seven months ago, claimed many lives.

    The Committee on Police Affairs, Human Rights and Justice mandated to carry out the investigation, is expected to uncover the issues and answer questions as to when the suspect died, how he died, why the police denied the facts of his death, at what point the police leadership discovered the death of the suspect and why the police are covering up the facts.

    The committee is also expected to unravel issues of human rights abuse, extrajudicial killings and manipulation of criminal investigation by the police.

    Read also: Offa Bank Robbery: How prime suspect died – Police

    The decision of the lawmakers followed the adoption of a motion of urgent national importance by Zakari Mohammad (PDP, Kwara), who noted how shocking was the disclosure by the police that Adikwu, the principal suspect in the bank robbery in Offa, Kwara State, which occurred on Aprii 5, is dead.

    He said: “The police initially confirmed to the Attorney- General of Kwara State through the Police Public Relations Officer, Moshood Jimoh, that the principal suspect was alive and in custody and was helping the police in the investigations of the robbery that led to the killing of 22 people and recovery of firearms that were carted away.

    “Of concern, however, is that it took the police so long to make the disclosure about the death of the principal suspect after denying its veracity as was reported in the media.

    “It is equally worrisome that there have been inconsistencies in the various statements by the police and a possible cover up of this extra-judicial killing with the aim of tarnishing the image of some innocent individuals for political purposes.

    “It is common knowledge that it is the constitutional duty of this hallowed chamber to take action wherever such level of irresponsibility and recklessness of an important law enforcement agency such as the Police have arisen in the course of investigations into a vicious crime.”

     

  • Offa Bank Robbery: How prime suspect died – Police

    The Nigeria Police Force has revealed the circumstances that led to the death of the prime suspect, Michael Adikwu in the Offa robbery.

    Contrary to claims that Adikwu was murdered by personnel of the Force while in detention, the Police said he slummed in their custody.

    The Police also said the death of the prime suspect does not exonerate the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki who was indicted by other suspects in the case.

    This is contained in a statement in Abuja on Thursday by the Force Spokesman, Ag. DCP Jimoh Moshood.

    According to Police,  Adikwu who was a dismissed Police Man and an ex- convict  confessed to have killed 22 persons including pregnant women and nine  Police personnel and carted away 22 AK 47 Rifles at the Offa Police Divisional Headquarters during Offa Bank Robbery.

    The Police also explained that he was not paraded along with the five gang leaders now standing trial because he was taken out to arrest other members of the gang and recover the Rifles carted away during the Offa Bank Robbery.

    The Police said: “Michael Adikwu was not murdered but slummed and died in detention while investigation into the Offa Bank Robbery was ongoing.

    “It is also important for the public to know that the deceased Michael Adikwu ‘was not among the Five gang leaders that indicted and implicated the senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki, therefore, his death cannot in anyway vindicate Senator Bukola Saraki.

    “There is a post-mortem examination result in respect of the death of Michael Adikwu ‘M’ 30Yrs.”

    On the indictment of Saraki, the Police said: “The indictment of the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki from the confessions of the five  gang leaders namely; Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibukunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Salawudeen Azeez, Niyi Ogundiran arrested for direct involvement and active participation in the Offa Bank Robbery was not politically motivated as alleged by Mr. Yusuf Olaniyonu, Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) to the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki to the media, but purely criminal case.

    Read also: Offa robbery: Reps launch investigation into death of key suspect

    “It should be of serious concern to all, that human life is sacrosanct and  where investigation has been concluded and suspects arraigned in Court, judicial process must be exhausted and not hindered for the law to take its course in ensuring justice for the families of more than (33) innocent persons including pregnant women that were gruesomely murdered in cold blood by Michael Adikwu and the Five gang leaders investigated and currently standing trial for direct involvement and active participation in the Offa Bank Robbery, than for any individual(s) or any group to attempt futile efforts and desperate distractions to pervert the end of justice is most unfair to the families of the deceased, the State and the society at large.”

    Giving further details into the case,  the Pokice said: “The attention of the Nigeria Police Force has been drawn to the innuendo in the media on the death of a sectional gang leader Michael Adikwu ‘M’ 30Yrs (A Dismissed Police Man and an Ex- Convict) who confessed to have killed Twenty Two (22) persons including pregnant women and Nine (9) Police personnel and carted away of Twenty Two (22) AK 47 Rifles at the Offa Police Divisional Headquarters during Offa Bank Robbery on the 5th April, 2018, it is therefore, imperative that the Nigeria Police Force respond to the publication and set the record straight.

    “The Nigeria Police Force is conversant and mindful of contempt of Court in commenting on cases already before the Court of competent jurisdiction, however, the Force is constraint and compelled to respond to the statement from Mr. Yusuf Olaniyonu, Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) to the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki and not on the Court processes and  proceedings on the case of Offa Bank Robbery for which Five  principal suspects are now standing trial in a State High court in Ilorin, Kwara State.

    “For avoidance of doubt, and to correct the insinuations and wrong impressions created by the statement from Mr. Yusuf Olaniyonu, Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) to the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki in the minds of members of the public over the indictment and involvement of the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki in the case of the Offa Bank Robbery of 5th April, 2018, from the confessions of the Five (5) gang leaders namely; Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibukunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Salawudeen Azeez, Niyi Ogundiran arrested for direct involvement and active participation in the Offa Bank Robbery and the gruesome killing of 33 innocent persons, the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki was indicted by the Five (5) suspects who admitted in their confessional statements to the Police investigators that they were political thugs of the Senate President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Sen. Bukola Saraki and the Executive Governor of Kwara State, Alh. Abdulfatah Ahmed.

    “The Five gang leaders further confessed during investigation that they are political thugs under the name Youth Liberation Movement a.k.a “Good Boys” they also admitted and confessed to have been sponsored with firearms, money and operational vehicles.

    “Lexus RX 300 Jeep with Reg. KWARA, KWA 143 RM with inscription SARAKI on a sticker attached to the vehicle

    “Mercedes Benz Compressor Reg. LAGOS, LT 496 KJA, these two (2) Vehicles were used for the Offa Bank Robbery by the Five (5) gang Leaders. The first vehicle was later registered after the Offa Bank Robbery to divert attention while the suspects were in detention.

    “These confessions were made before the media and the public on the 3rd of June, 2018. It is therefore, evidently clear that the Senate President, Sen. Bukola Saraki has case to answer in the whole matter.

    The statement continues: “It was also discovered during investigations that three gang leaders who participated actively in the Offa Bank Robbery (i) Ayoade Akinnibosun aka AY (ii) Ibukunle Ogunleye aka Arrow and (iii) Adeola Abraham followed the Senate President, Sen. Bukola Saraki to Oloffa’s Palace when the Senate President paid a condolence visit to Offa after the Bank Robbery.

    “Further investigation into the matter revealed  that all the Five (5) gang leaders have direct connection to the Senate President, Sen. Bukola Saraki as a picture of one of the five  gang leaders when paraded by the Police was in ‘Aso Ebi’ (trouser) used during the Senate President daughter’s wedding.

    The Five (5) gang leaders further admitted that they attended the Senate President daughter’s wedding held in Abuja.

    “Consequent on all the above, a thorough and discreet investigation was concluded by the Police into the matter and all the Five (5) gang leaders namely; Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibukunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Salawudeen Azeez, Niyi Ogundiran arrested for direct involvement and active participation in the Offa Bank Robbery that indicted and implicated Senator Bukola Saraki, Senate President Federal Republic of Nigeria in the Offa Bank Robbery are alive and now in Court.

  • Offa robbery: Reps launch investigation into death of key suspect

    The House of Representatives is to investigative circumstances of the death Michael Adikwu, a key suspect in the Offa, Kwara State robbery attack that claimed scores of lives seven months ago.

    The Committee on Police Affairs, Human Rights and Justice that was mandated to carry out the investigation is expected to uncover the Issues and questions as to when the suspect died, how he died, why the Police denied the facts of his death, at what point the Police leadership discovered the death of the suspect and why the police are covering up the facts.

    In addition, the Committee is also expected to unravel issues of human rights abuse, extrajudicial killings and manipulation of criminal Investigation by the police.

    The decision of the lawmakers followed the adoption of a motion of urgent national importance by Zakari Mohammad (PDP, Kwara), who noted how shocking was the disclosure by the Police that Adikwu, the principal suspect in the unfortunate bank robbery in Offa, Kwara State that occurred on the 5″“ of Aprii;2018 is dead.

    He said: “The Police initially confirmed to the Attorney General of Kwara State through the Police Public Relations Officer Moshood Jimoh that the principal suspect was alive and in custody and was helping the police in the investigations of the robbery that led to the killing of 22 people and recovery of firearms that were carted away.

    “Of concern however is that it took the police so long to make the disclosure about the death of the principal suspect after denying its veracity as was reported in the media.

    Read Also: Absence of principal suspect stalls Offa robbery trial

    “It is equally worrisome that there have been inconsistencies in the various statements by the police and a possible cover up of this extra-judicial killing with the aim of tarnishing the image of some innocent individuals for political p poses.

    “It is common knowledge that it is the constitutional duty of this hallowed chamber to take action wherever such level of irresponsibility and recklessness of an important law enforcement agency such as the Police have arisen in the course of investigations into a vicious crime”.

    The Committee has four weeks to carry out the assignment and report back for further legislative action.

  • Offa robbery: Saraki seeks inquiry into death of key suspect

    …Says he has been vindicated

     

    Following eventual disclosure by the Police that Michael Adikwu, the principal suspect in the deadly bank robbery attacks in Offa, Kwara State, on April 5, 2018, is dead, the President of the Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, Wednesday asked the Presidency to institute a judicial inquiry into the reported death of the principal suspect in the April 5, 2018 Offa robbery attacks, Michael Adikwu.

    Saraki said that the inquiry should be constituted to determine “how and when’ the suspect died.”

    Read Also:Saraki has personalised Senate, says Ndume

    The Senate President in a statement by his Special Adviser (Media and Publicity), Yusuph Olaniyonu, noted that the new disclosure by the Police has vindicated his earlier claim that the suspect had been murdered in police custody and that the investigation was politically motivated to implicate him (Saraki), Governor Abdulfatai Ahmed and a few others.

    He stated that the inquiry would help to thoroughly examine and interrogate how the investigation into the robbery incident was conducted by the Police and whether the investigation followed the normal process and comply with global best practices.

    He added that the Police needed to confirm why it took them so long to make the disclosure about the death of the principal suspect after they categorically denied it at the time he (Saraki) disclosed the information and it was reported in the media.

    Saraki said, “It should be recalled that when we mentioned it that the principal suspect had been murdered and that investigation into the Offa robbery attack was politically motivated and targeted at implicating me and other individuals, the Police Public Relations Officer, Moshood Jimoh  said: ‘Michael Adikwu is in Police custody. You know that he is the one that led the killing of 22 people. The fire arms that were carted away, he is helping the police in the investigation to recover them. There is a state in the South-west where they kept him. I can’t mention the state. It is in one of the South-west states’.

    “The fresh facts have now thrown more light into why there had been inconsistencies in the various statements by the police. The Police initially told the Attorney-General of Kwara State that the principal suspect was alive and they only later reluctantly disclosed that he died in the course of arrest. How can a suspect confirmed to be in custody now be said to have died in the course of arrest? This contradiction shows a deliberate attempt to cover up something.

    “It is obvious that the Police have orchestrated the information they give to the public on the Offa robbery only to tarnish the image of the Kwara State Governor and myself. We are calling for a public inquiry to probe the issues of extra-judicial killing, the cover-up of this killing with the aim of framing up some individuals for political purpose and politicizing of criminal investigations. The facts need to be laid bare.

    “The inquiry may help to further document and define the terms of handling of suspects in police custody and how to prevent extra-judicial killing of suspects, for whatever purpose. There is need for transparency in investigations into all cases and our methods should comply with global standards. We should discourage situations where police politicize investigations and deliberately set out to frame some individuals.

    “With the facts on ground, the issues that should be unearthed by the inquiry include: When exactly did the suspect die? How did he die? Why was the police denying the facts of his death when they knew he had died? At what point did the Police leadership knew of the death? Why are the police covering up the facts? We believe the answer to these questions will help the country to address the issue of human rights abuse, extra-judicial killing, manipulation of criminal investigation to achieve political end, deliberate attempt to cover up some facts and how skewed investigation of crime can impact on successful prosecution of suspects,” he added.

    Saraki noted that now that the Police have commenced prosecution of the remaining suspects in court, there should be diligent and prompt prosecution so that justice can be transparently done to both the victims of the Offa robbery and the accused persons.

  • Police arrest another Offa bank robbery suspect

    Police said on Monday that another suspected member of the armed robbery gang that attacked commercial banks in Offa, Kwara State, last month, has been arrested.

    Kunle Ogunleye, 35, alias Arrow, was arrested on Monday at Oro Town in Kwara State by operatives of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Intelligence Response Team (IRT).

    Ogunleye’s arrest followed the apprehension of a dismissed police Corporal, Michael Adikwu, two weeks ago.

    Adikwu’s Close Circuit Television (CCTV) captured image was circulated on social media after the robbery.

    Police said investigation into the robbery was extended to Ondo, Osun, Oyo and Ekiti States, adding that credible information from the public led to the suspects’ arrests.

    Adikwu, a native of Apa local government area of Benue State, was dismissed in 2012 for compromise.

    He was said to have released some notorious armed robbers in custody and prosecuted for the offence.

    The police said Adikwu spent three years in prison and was released in 2015.

    “All suspects arrested have confessed to the Offa bank robberies and murders. They are  assisting the IRT teams to arrest more suspects,” police said.