Crime & Court
Read Confessions Of Gang Leaders That Killed 33 People
Leaders of the robbery gang that carried out the attack that resulted in the death of 33 people in Offa, Kwara state, have confessed to how they were involved in the operation.
Nine police officers and 24 others lost their lives when a group of at least 30 armed robbers attacked Union Bank, Eco Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, First Bank, Zenith Bank and Ibolo Micro Finance Bank, as well as the Owode Police Station in Offa on April 5, 2018.
Since the robbery incident happened, 22 suspects have been arrested and were finally presented to the press during a media briefing on Sunday, June 3, 2018.
Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Jimoh Moshood, disclosed that five of the gang leaders have made confessional statements where they admitted to their roles in the bloody robbery that shocked the country two months ago.
According to him, the main gang leaders are Ayoade Akinnibosun (aka, AY), Ibikunle Ogunleye (aka Arrow), Adeola Abraham, Salawudeen Azeez, and Niyi Ogundiran, all indigenes of Oro, Irepodun local government area of Kwara.
The other major leader of the operation is Michael Adikwu, a former police corporal, who killed a total of 22 people during the robbery incident. Adikwu was attached to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Kwara State command before he was dismissed in 2012 for aiding the escape of some robbery suspects. He was arraigned in court and spent about three years in prison before he made his way out and created his own gang.
According to ACP Moshood, the biggest gang leader, AY, named Senate President, Bukola Saraki and Kwara state governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, as his gang’s political sponsors.
Some of the gang leaders were allowed to be questioned by the press and they shed light on the issues surrounding the robbery operation including the fact that it was the first time many of them were engaging in such a crime.
Read their confessions below:
Read confessions of Offa robbery gang leaders
Ogunleye is 36-year-old who confessed to killing two people during the robbery incident. He revealed that he was only informed of the robbery three days before the operation.
He said, “It was the gang leader, Ayo, that introduced this robbery to me and I later spread it to Ade to inform the two mechanics (other gang leaders). Three days to the incident, that was when the gang leader invited us.”
Ogunleye also disclosed that he killed two people during the robbery incident because Adikwu, the ex-police officer, was disturbing him.
He said, “The two people I killed was out of fear because I was being disturbed when the whole thing was going on. The dismissed police officer, Michael (Adikwu), was shouting that day that the Nigerian police dismissed him, that they collect job from his hand, that he’ll do them shege. That was the language he used.”
While noting that the Offa incident was his first robbery operation, he said Adikwu also trained the group in the use of firearms at Ajase-Ipo, Kwara, a day to the robbery.
Adeola Abraham
Read confessions of Offa robbery gang leaders
35-year-old Abraham led a team of robbers to GTB during the operation and revealed to the press that he killed five people because he was stoned by members of the public outside the bank.
He said, “When we’re in operation, they start to attack us with stone, civilian people, outside the bank. I was in the front of the bank when they started shouting ‘thief, thief’ and started carrying the stone, threw the stone and then the stone knack (hit) me, that is why (I killed them).”
Ayoade Akinnibosun
37-year-old Akinnibosun has been identified as the man that coordinated the operation after working with Adikwu. While speaking to the press, he narrated how the operation started in Offa after he received guns from Adikwu.
He said, “That fateful day, it was me, this man sitting beside me here (Ogunleye), Adex, Stand Well Well, and Niyi; it was the five of us. I came to join them at Ajase then we took off with a Mercedes Benz to Offa.
“On getting there I now positioned everybody; me I stood at that junction, that Total filling station there. On getting to that filling station, we now met that Michael, that dismissed police officer. On getting to meet Michael, Michael came down from one Audi, there was a Nissan parked in front of us, he now came out of that Audi and threw his hands we now saw him and parked at the back of that Nissan. He now came out and brought guns out of that Nissan, five AK-47s, and gave it to us. Then I shared it between the five of us inside our Benz.”
Read confessions of Offa robbery gang leaders
He also named the senate president and Kwara governor as his political sponsors whom he’s done ‘political arrangements’ for for years .
He said, “I am the chairman of Liberation Youths Movement, Kwara South. My involvement with the senate president is we’re his boys; we work for him at Kwara South. We’re the ones that hold Kwara South for him. We’ve been working for him since he was Governor of Kwara.
“We mobilise and do political arrangement there (Kwara South). For example, where we can’t win, we make dabaru (disruptive) arrangement there; we scatter elections if we don’t win.
“The connections between me and the senate president is that he’s the one that is arranging everything for us. For example, this car (a Lexus jeep GX-300) was given to me by His Excellency (Governor Ahmed) through the Chief of Staff of Kwara state as a gift from leader, Bukola Saraki. I participated in the Offa robbery. I took this Lexus car along to Offa.
“The senate president and governor of Kwara state (Ahmed), we have been their political thugs, and that’s what encouraged us to do what we’re doing.
Even though Akinnibosun noted that their alleged sponsors didn’t know about their robbery plans, Chief of Staff to Governor Ahmed, Yusuf Abdulwahab, and his personal assistant on politics, Alabi Olalekan, are two of the 22 suspects who have been arrested in connection to the robbery incident.
Salawudeen Azeez
Another 49-year-old, Salawudeen Azeez, was presented as a gang leader involved in the robbery operation. Azeez disclosed that he was introduced to the gang while repairing a car for them. The mechanic killed two people during the operation.
Two witnesses remain at large
In a statement signed by ACP Moshood on May 4, he released the pictures of four suspects who were placed at the scene of the crime and declared them wanted with a bounty of N5 million placed on their heads by the Kwara state government.
Adikwu and Ogunleye were two of those suspects, and have been arrested since then, meaning the other two remain at large as investigations continue into the tragedy of the Offa robbery.
Offa robbery suspects wanted by the police
These two Offa robbery suspects remain at large with a N5 million bounty on their heads (NAN)
The suspects have been placed on the watch list of the International Police and members of the public have been encouraged to contact with any information that could lead to their arrests on these hotlines: 08062080913, 08126285268, 08032365122, 07056792065, and 08088450152.
https://iso.keq.mybluehost.me/police-arrested-wanted-offa-bank-robbers/
Crime & Court
EFCC Secures Public Summons Against Yahaya Bello in ₦110bn Case
Justice Maryanne Anenih of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory has issued a public summons for former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello to appear in court to respond to a fresh 16-count indictment.
The summons requires Bello to attend court on October 24 for his arraignment, alongside co-defendants Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu.
The public summons was ordered following an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
In her ruling, Justice Anenih directed the EFCC to publish the summons in a widely circulated newspaper to ensure proper notification.
Also, the court instructed the EFCC to post copies of the public summons at Bello’s last known address and in conspicuous locations within the court premises.
The EFCC has reported difficulties in serving the charges, which were filed on September 24, alleging that Bello and the two co-defendants committed a criminal breach of trust involving a staggering ₦110.4 billion.
Crime & Court
Police Officer Stabs Civilian to Death Over ‘Uncleared Transaction’
A Police Inspector, Mohammed Bulama, attached to the Police Mobile Force (PMF) 41 in Yobe State, has been arrested for allegedly killing a 39-year-old civilian, Abdulmalik Dauda, during a confrontation in Damaturu, the state capital.
The incident, which occurred on September 29, 2024, was sparked by a heated argument between Bulama and Dauda over “uncleared transactions” in the Zango area of Damaturu. The argument escalated, leading Bulama to fatally stab Dauda in the chest.
In a statement, the Yobe State Police spokesperson, Dungus Abdulkarim, confirmed Bulama’s arrest and announced that an investigation into the homicide case had been launched.
“The Commissioner of Police, CP Garba Ahmed, has ordered an immediate and thorough investigation into the incident involving Inspector Mohammed Bulama,” Abdulkarim said.
He further disclosed that the officer has been placed in custody, pending internal disciplinary action and prosecution.
CP Ahmed condemned the actions of the officer, extending his condolences to the family of the victim.
He also assured the public that justice would be served swiftly in accordance with the law.
Crime & Court
Police Summon Officers Over Alleged N1m Corps Members’ Extortion
The Lagos State Police Command has summoned three officers accused of extorting N1 million from members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in the Surulere area of Lagos.
Footage of the incident, which went viral on social media late Friday, shows the officers confronting the corps members, reportedly over the absence of a physical copy of a driver’s license. The video was shared by social media user Oluyemi Fasipe, who claimed that the officers threatened the corps members with firearms and forcibly took them to the Kafaru Oluwole Tinubu House, the Area C Command of the Lagos State Police, where they allegedly extorted the sum of N1 million.
“Dear @BenHundeyin, Your officers today in Surulere extorted 1 million naira from three corps members,” Fasipe wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “They were threatened with firearms, kidnapped, and taken to the KAFARU OLUWOLE TINUBU HOUSE AREA C POLICE COMMAND of the @LagosPoliceNG where they were robbed.”
Fasipe added that the entire incident stemmed from the corps members’ inability to present a physical copy of a driver’s license, a situation he described as “evil.”
In one of the videos, the officers are seen inspecting the vehicle’s documents, with the situation escalating as additional officers arrived. One officer can be seen entering the car and demanding that the corps members stop recording the incident, while also prohibiting them from contacting their families.
In response, the spokesperson of the Lagos State Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed that the officers involved have been summoned, and an investigation is underway.
“The men have been summoned, and their trial has commenced,” Hundeyin wrote on X. “We urge the complainants to visit the Complaint Response Unit at the State Headquarters to testify at the ongoing trial.”
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