The Kwara State High Court has sentenced five suspects involved in the Offa robbery incident to death.
The suspects were found guilty of illegal possession of firearms, armed robbery, and culpable homicide six years after the robbery incident which took place at five banks in Offa in 2018.
The offences according to the presiding judge, Justice Haleemah Salman are punishable by death.
The accused persons are Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibikunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Salahudeen Azeez, and Niyi Ogundiran.
Michael Adikwu, the sixth suspect, who was a retired police officer, died in custody before the trial began.
No fewer than 32 people including nine policemen and eight civilians were killed in the robbery operation.
Six years after the incident, Justice Salman found the accused persons of robbing and killing innocent citizens and sentenced them to death by hanging.
The judge said, “The convicts acted contrary to the law and allowed their connections with those in power at the time to lead them astray.”
It would be recalled that in 2019 while being led in evidence in the trial-within-trial by their counsel, Mathias Emeribe, one of the suspects, Akinnibosun, said he was tortured and threatened by the police to make the confessional statements.
He also alleged that Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, also asked him and the other accused persons to implicate the then Senate President, Bukola Saraki.
However, after the judgement, the lead prosecution counsel, Barrister Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) expressed satisfaction, saying the judge was thorough despite distractions that prolonged the trial.
