Stephen Olufemi Oni, Ilorin

The Kwara State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s attempt to equate the 2018 Offa bloody bank robbery to the current banditry and kidnapping incidents in the state as a “shameful defensive political stunt”.

The PDP, in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Olusegun Olusola Adewara, was reacting to the Governor’s comments during his visit to Oke-Ode on Thursday, where “he attempted to shift the blame for the state’s security collapse by reviving the Offa Bank Robbery tragedy”, adding that the “Governor has exposed his absolute lack of understanding of the problem he was elected to solve”.

The statement added: “Governor AbdulRazaq’s deliberate comparison of a single, albeit tragic, bank robbery—an act of urban crime which happens even in developed countries —to the current widespread crisis of rural banditry, farm raids, mass kidnappings, and the resulting displacement of communities in Kwara North and South, is a shocking failure of executive comprehension.

“Banditry and Kidnapping are a direct result of ungoverned spaces, failed intelligence, and a security infrastructure overwhelmed by trans-border criminal syndicates which summarily indicate leadership failure.

“A Governor who fails to understand the fundamental difference between these two distinct threats is clearly incapable of devising the right solution. The Governor’s response confirms our assertion; a Governor who lacks understanding of a given problem cannot provide the right solution.

“Our party considers the Governor’s outburst at Oke-Ode as not only unfortunate but also insulting to the people of Offa, whose scars from that dastardly act are yet to fully heal. To exploit their pains for cheap political point-scoring is the lowest any leader can descend to.

“The Governor’s reckless claim that Dr. Saraki is in court over Offa Robbery is a barefaced lie already discredited by a critical organ of the Federal Government.

“We remind Governor AbdulRazaq that the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) of the Federation, Mohammed U.E., after a thorough review of the Police investigation, explicitly stated that the DPP was “unable to establish a nexus” that linked Dr. Saraki to the Offa robbery suspects.

“It is disheartening and cruel that a Governor would stoop so low as to repeatedly use the painful, open wounds of the Offa community as a political defensive tool to shield himself from national criticism over his own poor performance and cluelessness in managing the rising insecurity. Offa people must stand up and condemn the Governor’s desperate attempt to exploit their trauma.

“We wish to make it unequivocally clear to Governor AbdulRazaq: Saraki is not your problem, neither is the opposition party.”

In a swift reaction, the Kwara State Government, in a statement by
‎Bashir Adigun, ‎Special Adviser on Media to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, said: “The attention of Kwara State Government has been drawn to yet another uncouth, unintelligent, and desperate statement by the tattered opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), through its spokesman, Olusegun Adewara.
‎
“‎In his usual role as the defender and image-launderer of his embattled master, Bukola Saraki, Adewara shamelessly attempted to trivialize the blood-soaked tragedy of the 2018 Offa robbery while trying to whitewash the dark legacy of 16 years of PDP misrule in Kwara.
‎
‎”Let us remind Adewara and his sponsors that the Offa robbery was not just “a single bank robbery,” as they arrogantly described it. It was a national tragedy that claimed dozens of innocent lives, including mothers, fathers, students, children, and uniformed law enforcement officers, whose blood was spilled by criminals that had undeniable links with their political godfather.
‎
‎”Kwarans have not forgotten that the RX Toyota mini-SUV used by the robbers bore the personalized plate number with Saraki’s name, and that the said vehicle was later hidden in a government ministry to evade justice.
‎
“‎Can Adewara and his masters deny the video confessions of suspects who openly identified with PDP chieftains in the state? Can they deny published interviews in reputable newspapers where their leader Alhaji Kawu Baraje openly admitted to their importing armed mercenaries from the Sahel to rig elections in 2015? These are facts etched in public records, not propaganda.
‎
‎”The PDP’s attempt to separate their bloody legacy from today’s security challenges is laughable. This is the same party under which Kwara was turned into a theatre of fear, sorrow, cultism, and gangsterism—when so-called “Good Boys” and political thugs unleashed terror on Ilorin residents and rural communities. For 16 years, Kwara was a fiefdom under the Pharaoh-like grip of Saraki, until the people rose in a revolution in 2019 to reclaim their freedom.
‎
‎”Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has never shied away from acknowledging the nationwide challenge of banditry and insecurity. But Kwarans are wise enough to know that those who laid the foundation of bloodletting, impunity, and armed thuggery in this state cannot turn around today to pontificate about security.
‎
‎”The PDP should cover its face in shame instead of attacking a Governor who, within six years, has rebuilt schools, upgraded hospitals, opened up rural roads, empowered women and youths, and given Kwarans a new lease of freedom and dignity. Kwara people can see and feel the difference between the dark era of PDP’s 16 years of oppression and the new era of development and hope.
‎
‎”To Adewara and his paymasters, we say: stop crying. Stop insulting the memory of the victims of the Offa robbery. Stop pretending that Saraki’s bloody political empire never existed. Kwara will never return to Egypt.”

End
‎
‎