The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Salaudeen Azeez

  • 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.

  • Offa robbery: Absence of defence counsel stalls hearing of suspects

    Absence of defence counsel, Mathias Emeribe on Tuesday stalled the continuation of hearing of the Offa robbery suspects at the Kwara state High Court sitting in Ilorin.

    The case had been adjourned to February 19th and 20th for continuation of examination of witnesses by prosecution.

    All the accused persons, Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibikunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Salaudeen Azeez and Niyi Ogundiran were in court on Tuesday.

    Prosecution counsel, Prof Wahab Egbewole informed the court that Mr. Emeribe called and sent text message to him on what he described as “life threatening experience on the road” and suggested adjournment, which the court reluctantly agreed with.

    Presiding judge, Justice Halima Saleeman expressed disappointment over the absence of the defence counsel in court.

    She said that the prosecution counsel should have asked for details of the “life threatening experience” of the defence counsel.

    Read Also: Offa robbery: 21 AK47 rifles carted away from police amoury, says witness

    “Does it mean that he won’t step out of his room till after the national elections? I can’t fathom this excuse and explanation, for someone to sit in the comfort of his house and be sending text messages. This court is only interested in timely dispensation of the matter and any delay could put the court in jeopardy”, she said.

    Justice Saleeman thereafter adjourned hearing on the matter till March 14 and 15, 2019.

    Speaking with reporters after the court sitting, Prof Egbewole said that the defence counsel called him on Sunday and also sent a text message to him on Tuesday that he could not be in court on Wednesday and suggested a date after the national elections.

    He said “this is just to show on the part of the prosecution that we’ve arranged our witnesses because we have them here from Plateau and Zamfara states, to ensure that the matter proceeds. But here we are.”

  • Offa robbery: 21 AK 47 rifles carted from police armoury, says witness

    The Nigeria Police High Command on Friday said no fewer than 21 AK47 rifles were stolen from the armoury of a station during the April 5th, 2018 bloody bank robbery and attack on police station.

    The command added one Michel Adikwu now dead and a dismissed police officer led the robbery incident that claimed 33 lives, including nine policemen and women.

    Police said these at the resumed hearing of the case at Kwara state

    High Court sitting in Ilorin, the state capital.

    Five accused persons who were accomplices of the late Adikwu are standing trial.

    They are: Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibikunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Salaudeen Azeez and Niyi Ogundiran were in court.

    One of the prosecution witnesses led by Prof Wahab Egbewole, Hitila Hassan, an inspector told the court that the closed circuit television (CCTV) footages of the banks disclosed the identity of the accused persons culminating into their arrest.

    Mr. Hassan, an officer attached to the Inspector General of Police

    (IGP) Intelligence Response Team (IRT), said other members of the gang are still at large.

    IRT was set up by the former IGP Ibrahim Idris and it is headed by Assistant Commissioner of police (ACP) Abba Kyari.

    The police officer added that his team came to Ilorin at the behest of the then IGP Idris to fish out the perpetrators of the dastardly act.

    He said that his team worked with the officers of the Kwara state criminal investigation department, saying that “we visited the armoury of the scenes of the incident and Offa police station where we discovered that no fewer than 21 AK47 rifles were carted away by the armed robbers.

    “We also gathered from the accused persons that the late Michael

    Adikwu after the attacks on banks headed for the police station and started shouting that he had come on a revenge mission for his dismissal from the force.

    “Then he started shooting sporadically in every direction at the station. Having carefully watched the footages of the CCTV we identified the faces in the camera and the circulated in the social media for Nigerians to assist us in the arrest of the culprits.

    “Through that we generated our intelligence that led to the arrest of one Ibikunle Ogunleye in Oro, Irepodun local government area of the state.

    “Initially, he denied having anything to do with the incident but when confronted with CCTV evidence, he confessed and said he was one of the persons inside the banks wielding AK47 rifles.

    “His arrest assisted us in the arrest of four other accused persons standing trial.”

    Inspector Dauda, an exhibit keeper at the Kwara state Headquarters of the Nigeria Police, Ilorin had testified.

    Read Also: FG, States, LGs share N649.198b monthly allocation

    He disclosed that on April 10,2018, a former Divisional Police officer in Offa local government, CSP Danjuma Adamu handed to him some weapons and ammunition allegedly used in the robbery operation.

    Dauda said that the ammunition included 39 expended 7.6mm ammunition, four expended 5.6mm, two expended blank cartridges, four used bullet, one life 5.6mm ammunition, one Catridge safety box on which Ikoyi South West, Lagos, Nigeria was written and a damaged padlock.

    He also said that on April 15, 2018, Inspector Hassan attached to the Inspector General of Police rescue team also brought one Lexus Jeep on which a sticker bearing “Saraki” was written with it key, a Compressor Mercedes Benz and four Stickers bearing “Saraki”.

    The prosecution tendered all the items as exhibits in the case.

    Friday’s sitting commenced around 9am and ended at 4:23pm

    Justice Halimat Salman adjourned the case till February 19 and 20, 2019 for continuation of hearing.

  • Prosecution stalls hearing of Offa robbery suspects

    Commencement of definite hearing of the Offa robbery suspects could not begin on Friday at the Kwara state High Court sitting in Ilorin, the state capital.

    This was due to the unpreparedness of the prosecution.

    The court had fixed Friday as the last adjourned date for definite hearing as a result of the inability of the prosecution to produce witnesses in court.

    The five accused Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibikunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Salaudeen Azeez and Niyi Ogundiran were in court.

    The April 5th 2018 bloody bank robbery incident claimed 33 lives including nine policemen and women.

    The accused were charged alleged conspiracy, armed robbery, murder, culpable homicide and illegal possession of firearms.

    Appearing for the first time in the case for the state government/prosecution, Prof Wahab Egbewole (SAN) urged the court to grant him some ample time to interact with the witnesses.

    He thereafter applied for a short adjournment.

    He added that “I got a fiat from the state Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice Kamaldeen Ajibade yesterday to take over the case. I am yet to interact with the witnesses who are in court.”

    He added that “I want to plead I will not ask for adjournment any more in this case. What is important in this matter is for justice to be done to all parties at the end of the day.”

    In his reaction, Defense Mathias Emeribe agreed with the position canvassed by the learned silk.

    “However, I want to urge him to impress it upon the police to avail me of all the evidence they want to tender in the matter. It is important for me to study the evidences and bring same before my clients to be able to do a proper defense in this matter,” he added.

    Read Also: Wike’s aide kidnapped by unknown gunmen

    Said he: “I am still waiting for prosecution to show that they have the capacity and all that is required to do well in this case. At least, if for nothing, you discover, the fault is not from the defense, so that when I begin to make the necessary applications the whole world will know that the defense is justified.

    “There are some things you will do and it will look as if you are not ready to do justice in this matter. My countenance and that of the defense have shown that we are ready to prove our innocence.”

    Angered by the delayed in the commencement of hearing, the trial Judge, Justice Halimat Salman said “I don’t like what is happening in this case. At the end of the day, they will put the blame on the court.

    The witnesses are in court yet you (prosecution) are not ready for prosecution.”

    Before granting the application for adjournment, Justice Salman said: “the court is reluctantly granting the adjournment at the instance of the prosecution.”

    She then adjourned the case to January 25th for hearing.

  • Offa robbery: Absence of witnesses stall hearing of suspects

    Hearing on Offa robbery suspects at the Kwara state High Court sitting in Ilorin, was on Monday stalled by the failure of prosecution to produce witnesses in court.

    As a result, the court at its resumed hearing on Monday, adjourned the case to January 18, 2019, for definite hearing.

    The five accused persons brought before the court were Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibikunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Salaudeen Azeez and Niyi Ogundiran.

    The April 5th 2018 bloody bank robbery incident claimed 33 lives including nine policemen and women.

    The accused were charged alleged conspiracy, armed robbery, murder, Culpable Homicide and illegal possession of firearms.

    When the case which was slated for definite hearing Monday came up, Kwara state Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Jimoh, Mumini said that the police who investigated the case could not bring their witnesses who are all in the Force Headquarters in Abuja to the court.

    Read Also: Man, 34 remanded for defiling 7-year-old girl

    The DPP added that “all the witnesses in the robbery case are policemen who investigated the case and they are all from the Police Headquarters in Abuja. No witness was taken from Offa where the robbery took place and non from Kwara state. ”

    Mr Mumini said that all efforts he made to the police Assistant Inspector General David Igodo who is in charge of Police investigation and Mr Abba Kyari, a Deputy Commissioner of Police who led the investigation team to Kwara state to produce the witnesses in court did not yield any result.

    The DPP said, “on the 10th of December, 2018, I wrote a letter to the AIG, Mr Igodo which I copied to this honorable court to make available all witnesses in this case in court today. I followed it up with phone calls on January 2, 4 and 6, 2019. It was at about 8.07 pm yesterday (Sunday) that Abba Kyari, DCP told me that the witnesses will leave Abuja for Ilorin this morning. I told him that the court would sit at 9am. The AIG then told me to beg the court for short adjournment.”

    He, however, sought for short adjournment for the case from the court.

    The Defence Counsel, Mathias Emeribe said that the prosecution was not ready to go on with the case.
    He did not however oppose to the adjournment.

    He pleaded with the court to order the prosecution to serve him with the amended charge of the case as well as the confessional statements of the five accused persons.

    In his ruling, the trial Judge, Justice Halimat Salman said that she was adjourning the case till January 18, 2019 because the police failed to make the witnesses available in court.

    She then vacated the definite hearing order slated for today and ordered that the police should send down all the witnesses to Ilorin for the definite hearing of the case on Friday next week, 18th January, 2019.