By Dele Ogbodo
The Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, has extended a letter of invitation to the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki
to make further clarifications over the robbery incident in April in Offa, Kwara State, in which 31 persons were murdered and 21 AK47 riffles were allegedly snatched.
In a statement signed by the IGP which was made available to SHARPEDGENEWS Online on Monday night, read in reference to the on going investigation as: “CR:3000/IGP.SEC/ABJ/VOL./130/571 dated 4th June 2018 and your letter of response NASS/8th/S/SP/IGP/15/6/18 dated 7th June 2018 on the above subject matter (copies attached) and to further restate as follows: Recall that the Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) is investigating a case of armed robbery which occurred on the 5th of April, 2018 during which a gang of dare devil Armed Robbers, stormed Offa, Kwara State and attacked a Police Station, robbed six Banks namely First Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, ECO Bank, Zenith Bank, Union Bank and Ibolo Micro Finance Bank, killed over thirty one(31) Persons including nine Police officers and pregnant women and snatched twenty(21)AK47 rifles.”
The statement added that after a careful perusal of the letter Saraki wrote to the police, it was discovered that the statement requires further clarification and coupled with the fact that (Saraki) stated that the full text of the statements of the suspects were not shown to you, therefore Saraki should report to the police to make further statements after the full text of the statements of the suspects have been made his disposal.
The statement read: “During the investigation of the armed robbery by the Intelligence Response Team, a CCTV footage of the armed robbery in one of the banks, captured the image of two persons.
“The CCTV footage was circulated on the social media and this led to their identification as Kunle Ogunleye and Micheal Adikwu. The two persons were tracked and arrested by the Police and they made very useful statements and named the five gang leaders who organized the armed Robbery.”
According to the police, some of the five gang leaders made confessional statements admitting their participation in this worst armed robbery in the history of Nigeria, adding that the suspects admitted that they are political thugs under the name, Youth Liberation Movement aka ‘Good boys’ allegedly sponsored by you and that you have given them firearms, money and vehicles.
The Police boss said it was equally discovered that one of the vehicles, a Lexus Jeep, used by the gang leader (Ayoade Akinnibosun) has a sticker plate number “SARAKI’ Kwara State of Harmony.”
“The Lexus Jeep was parked in the Government House after the arrest of Ayoade Akinnibosun and in order to conceal evidence, the Chief of Staff to the Executive Governor of Kwara State, arranged for the removal of the sticker plate number “SARAKI Kwara State of Harmony” from the Lexus jeep and quickly registered it in the name of the suspect, six days after the suspecthas been arrested by the Police.
”Specifically Mr Ayoade Akinnibosun ‘m’ 27 Years in his Confessional Statement stated that “members of his group are Political Thugs working for Senator Bukola Saraki and Governor of Kwara State.
“That he is the head of the political thugs named Youths Liberation Movement covering about 7Local Governments Areas of Kwara South. That he gets vehicle and monetary gifts etc from Senator Bukola Saraki through the Chief of Staff to the Governor of Kwara State; that the last money he got directly from Senator Bukola Saraki was N500,000.
“He made mention of some other thugs in Kwara Central with guns which Senator Bukola Saraki is sponsoring as Alhaji Alawo, Alhaji Dona, Alhaji Jawando among others, that Senator Bukola Saraki supplies the arms and vehicles to the thugs; that everyone in Kwara Central fear them because of their guns and ability to kill anybody without hesitation.
“Furthermore the suspect Ayoade Akinnibosun stated that the date you Senator Saraki visited Offa in sympathy with the victims to the palace of the Oba, that he and two other gang members were with you in the convoy.
“In your response to the above allegations, you stated “by virtue of my participation in politics, I have a large followership which makes it impossible for me to know all of them. I can say categorically that I am in no way associated with the vehicle mentioned in your letter nor have I given any arms to any thug or other persons in kwara State or anywhere else.
“For the records, your letter under reference did not include the full text of the statements made by the accused persons.” the statement added.
The Police stated that after a careful perusal of Saraki’s letter to them, it was discovered that the statement requires further clarification coupled with the fact that you Saraki stated that the full text of the statements of the suspects were not shown to him, explaining that it is imperative you report to the police to make further statements after giving you the full text of the statements of the suspects.
“It is in line with the above that you are requested to report to the head of the Investigation Team at the Intelligence Response Team at Guzape Junction, Asokoro Extension, Abuja today Tuesday 24th at 8am for further investigation on the matter.” the IGP said.