Offa robbery: 21 AK47 rifles carted away from police amoury, says witness

The Nigeria Police high command yesterday said no fewer than 21 AK47 rifles were stolen from the armoury of the police station a police station during the April 5th, 2018 bloody bank robbery and attack on police station.

The command added that one Michel Adikwu now dead and a dismissed police officer led the robbery incident that claimed 33 lives including nine policemen and women.

Police said this at the resumed hearing of the case at Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin, the state capital.

Five accused persons who were accomplices of the late Adikwu are already standing trial, Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibikunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Salaudeen Azeez and Niyi Ogundiran were in court.

One of the prosecution witnesses led by Prof Wahab Egbewole, Hitila Hassan, an inspector told the court that the Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) footages of the banks disclosed the identity of the accused persons culminating into their arrest.

Mr. Hassan, an officer attached to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Intelligence Response Team (IRT), said other members of the gang are still at large. IRT was set up by the former IGP Ibrahim Idris and it is headed by Assistant Commissioner of police (ACP) Abba Kyari.

The police officer added that his team came to Ilorin at the behest of the then IGP Idris to fish out the perpetrators of the dastardly act.

He said that his team worked with the officers of the Kwara State criminal Investigation Department, saying that “we visited the amoury of the scenes of the incident and Offa Police Station where we discovered that no fewer than 21 AK47 rifles were carted away by the armed robbers.

“We also gathered from the accused persons that the late Michael Adikwu after the attacks on banks headed for the police station and started shouting that he had come on a revenge mission for his dismissal from the force. Then he started shooting sporadically in every direction at the station.

“Having carefully watched the footages of the CCTV we identified the faces in the camera and the circulated in the social media for Nigerians to assist us in the arrest of the culprits. Through that we generated our intelligence that led to the arrest of one Ibikunle Ogunleye in Oro, Irepodun local government area of the state. “Initially, he denied having anything to do with the incident but when confronted with CCTV evidence, he confessed and said he was one of the persons inside the banks wielding AK47 rifles. His arrest assisted us in the arrest of four other accused persons standing trial.”

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Earlier, Inspector Dauda, an exhibit keeper at the Kwara State Headquarters of the  Nigeria Police, Ilorin had testified.

He disclosed that on April 10, 2018, a former Divisional Police officer in Offa Local Government, CSP Danjuma Adamu handed to him some weapons and ammunition allegedly used in the robbery operation.

Dauda said that the ammunition included 39 expended 7.6mm ammunition, four expended 5.6mm, two expended blank cartridges, four used bullet, one life 5.6mm ammunition, one catridge safety box on which Ikoyi South West, Lagos, Nigeria was written and a damaged Padlock.

He also said that on April 15, 2018, Inspector Hassan attached to the Inspector General of Police rescue team also brought one Lexus Jeep on which a sticker bearing ‘Saraki’ was written with it key, a compressor Mercedes Benz and four stickers bearing ‘Saraki.