The recent judgment by the Kwara State High Court on the infamous Offa banks robbery has led to divisions within the community. After a six-year trial, Justice Haleema Saliman sentenced the five remaining suspects—Ayoade Akinnibosun, Azeez Salahudeen, Niyi Ogundiran, Ibikunle Ogunleye, and Adeola Abraham—to death by hanging last week.
On Thursday, the home branch of the Offa Descendants’ Union (ODU) urged the Kwara State Government to revisit the case. Speaking to journalists, Chief Tajudeen Lanre Shittu, chairman of the union, said while the community welcomed the judgment, there were still lingering concerns about unanswered questions regarding the robbery.
“There is the need for a holistic probing of all the factors, notions and personalities, so as to remove the public impression that the Nigeria Police investigation on the incident is incomplete and certain individuals are being covered up,” Shittu said. He also urged the state government to expedite the execution of the judgment and called for further investigation into those who supplied the vehicle used in the robbery and others mentioned during the trial.
However, some community groups—”Offa Koya” and “Offa Kowosi”—dismissed the home branch’s position as politically motivated. In a statement released last night, these groups accused the ODU home branch chairman of exploiting the community’s name for political purposes.
Mrs. Wosilat McCarthy, the national secretary of the national branch of ODU, distanced the organization from Shittu’s remarks, asserting that he cannot speak on behalf of the ODU as a whole.
