• wants those who supplied logistics to culprits unraveled, prosecuted
• hails court verdict sentencing culprits to death

Stephen Olufemi Oni, Ilorin

The people of Offa community in Offa local government area of Kwara State have expressed reservations in the police investigation into the Offa banks’ robbery case of April 5, 2018 which claimed no fewer than 33 innocent lives, urging the State Police Command to further investigate all the names mentioned by the convicted persons during the course of their trial to also ascertain their levels of involvement in the robbery incident.

This, the people opined, would
correct the impression of the community that certain highly placed individuals are being covered up.

Addressing journalists on Thursday in Offa on last week’s death sentence passed on the five culprits of the robbery by the court, the Chairman of the Offa Descendants Union (ODU), Chief Tajudeen Lanre Shittu, said, “though the community welcomes the judgment of the judiciary, they however express reservations that many questions have not been answered”.

In a text of the press conference addressed to the Kwara State Commissioner of Police and jointly signed by Chief Tajudeen Lahre Shittu (Chairman), Apostle Gabriel Kolawole (Public Relation Officer) and Mallam Hakeem Mudashiru
(General Secretary), the ODU affirmed that “though it welcomed the death sentence passed on the five culprits, the community however remains unpersuaded and unsatisfied with the way the police ended its investigation on the matter”.

Text of the address reads in part: “As much as we appreciate the conviction of the suspects, Offa as a community have reservations for the way the investigation was handled by the police as though it pleases us that the culprits would not go unpunished; we are aware that they have their rights to appeal to the Supreme Court of Nigeria, but we will never relent to pursue any attempt made by evil doers and ensure that full justice is achieved on the heartless souls including those who have link with them during the course of investigation.

“This is a major concern to our community and a very important
course we have resolved to pursue to a logical conclusion.

“More so, the Offa community will like the investigation to be extended further in the following regards to identify and unravel:

“The people who supplied the vehicle used for the robbery.
The people mentioned during the course of investigation.
From the above two germane points, we hereby state categorically that Offa community remains not only grateful but unpersuaded and unsatisfied with the way the police ended the investigation as we, as a community, consider the investigation leading to the judgment as inconclusive and an attempt to cover and protect the names of those who were identified by the robbers during investigation.

“We therefore vehemently call for further and thorough investigation and arrest of those who provided logistics to the robbers. All the names mentioned by the convicted persons should be investigated thuroughly for proper
justice to be served.

“We therefore call on Kwara state government to revisit the incident through the holistic probing of all the factors, notions and personalities, so as to remove the public impression and conclusion
that the said Nigeria Police investigation of the April 2018 Offa Bank Robbery is incomplete.This is Offa Community Unnegotiable Demand and Prayers.”