A dismissed
police constable, who is a principal suspect in the Offa bank robbery, Michael
Adikwu, is dead.
Kwara State
Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice,
Mr Kamaldeen Ajibade (SAN), disclosed this at a Kwara State High Court
on Wednesday when five of the six suspects were brought to court for
arraignment.
The five
suspects brought before the court were Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibikunle Ogunleye,
Adeola Abraham, Salaudeen Azeez and Niyi Ogundiran.
However,
Michael Adikwu, who was said to have confessed to being the mastermind of the
bloody operation, was not in court during the arraignment.
No fewer
than 32 people were killed in the robbery operation that affected five
commercial banks on April 5, 2018.
When the
case came up, Ajibade who disclosed that his office received the case file of
the robbery operation on Monday evening said the head of police investigation
team, Mr Abba Kyari, informed him that
Adikwu was dead.
He also said
the police had yet to give details on the death of the suspect and that the
five suspects brought to court would not be charged until an amendment was made
to the charge sheet.
He said, “We
have the names of six suspects on our charge sheet but they brought five
suspects; we cannot go on with the case until we amend the charges because we cannot
prosecute a dead person.
The attorney
general also said the case could not go on because the suspects had no legal
representation.
He urged the
court to adjourn the case for the charges to be amended and for the suspects to
get legal representation.
Recall that
two lawyers representing the suspects announced their withdrawal from the case
last week.
Justice
Halima Salman adjourned the matter till November 30, 2018 and ordered that the
suspects should get their legal team to defend them.
However, the
President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, has asked the presidency to probe the
death of the principal suspect in the deadly bank robbery attacks in Offa,
Kwara State, on April 5, Michael Adikwu.
Saraki, in a
statement by his Special Adviser (Media and Publicity), Yusuph Olaniyonu, also
noted that the police disclosure of Adikwu’s death, has vindicated his earlier
claim that the suspect had been murdered in police custody.
He also said
that the police investigation was politically motivated to implicate him
(Saraki), Kwara Governor Abdulfatai Ahmed, and a few others.
He stated
that the inquiry would help to thoroughly examine and interrogate how the
investigation into the robbery incident was conducted by the police.
He said,
“When we mentioned it that the principal suspect had been murdered, the Police
Public Relations Officer, Moshood Jimoh, said Michael Adikwu is in Police
custody.
“How can a
suspect confirmed to be in custody now be said to have died in the course of
arrest? This contradiction shows a deliberate attempt to cover up something.
“It is
obvious that the police have orchestrated the information they gave to the
public on the Offa robbery only to tarnish the image of the Kwara State
Governor and myself.
“We are
calling for a public inquiry to probe the issues of extra-judicial killing, the
cover-up of this killing with the aim of framing up some individuals for
political purpose and politicizing of criminal investigations. The facts need
to be laid bare.
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