Offa bank robbery: Police killed principal suspect, Adikwu, for not implicating Saraki – Suspect

3 Min Read

One of the suspects being tried for last year’s bank robberies in Offa, Kwara State, Ayoade Akinnibosun, on Friday told an Ilorin High Court that the Michael Adikwu, a  principal suspect and  the  mastermind  behind  the robberies, was deliberately murdered by the police investigators.

Testifying before the court in a “trial within trial”, Ayoade also explained how the police asked him to implicate the  Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki,  in the robbery incidents.

Akinnibosun and two other accused, Ibikunle Ogunleye and Adeola Abraham, alleged that they made their statements under duress.

Ayoade, while responding to questions during cross-examination by the defence counsel,  Mathias Emeribe, noted that Adikwu,  who was the mastermind of the robberies,  was shot dead by one Inspector Vincent attached to the police Intelligence Response Team.

The suspects alleged that they were tortured and threatened by the police to make their confessional statements.

However, the prosecution witness, Inspector Hitila Hassan,  had on Thursday told the court that the suspects voluntarily made their statements under his supervision.

READ ALSO: Armed bandits abduct renowned Islamic cleric, 5 others in Katsina — Police

Lead prosecuting counsel, Prof Wahab Egbewole,  sought to tender the statements as exhibits but Emeribe objected.

Emeribe argued that the accused  did not volunteer their statements which the prosecution wanted to tender before the court, noting that they fell short of the provisions of the Evidence Act, particularly sections 28 and 29.

The hearing took a new twist at the resumption of hearing on Friday,  when Akinnibosun said,  “Abba Kyari told me to  say that  the Senate President Bukola Saraki  gave me the guns  we  used  for the operations. But I declined.

“He (Abba Kyari) promised that they would reward me handsomely and set me free if I could  indict Saraki. When I disagreed,  they asked  some policemen to take me back to the cell. During this time,  my hands were tied to my legs.”

The suspect, who claimed to be the leader of Kwara South Liberation Movement mobilising young jobless graduates for the  representative of  Kwara South  at the Senate, Dr Rafiu Ibrahim, also accused Inspector Vincent of killing five Fulani men  when they were kept at the IRT ‘theatre room’.

They added that it was in the same ‘theatre room that Inspector Vincent, popularly known  as Mr Torture, allegedly shot dead Adikwu for failing to indict them.

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

The trial Judge, Justice Halimat Salman,  adjourned the case till  March 25, 2019 for the continuation of trial within trial.

Share this Article
Leave a comment

Leave a Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.