Death sentence on bank robbers sparks off political crisis in Offa Community

Death sentence on bank robbers sparks off political crisis in Offa Community

The five convicted Offa Armed robbery suspects

The Five convicted Offa Armed robbery suspects

The political crisis is now brewing in Offa Community, as the leaders of thought and a section of people of Offa Local Government Area (LGA) of Kwara State have dissociated themselves from the press conference addressed by the Chairman Home branch of the Offa Descendants Union (ODU), which purportedly represented the entire views of the Offa community on the judgment of the Kwara State High Court on the Offa robbery case.

Earlier on Thursday, at a press conference in Offa, branch Chairman of Offa Descendants Union( ODU ) Chief Tajudeen Lanre Shittu told journalists that the gathering had the endorsement of the national leadership of ODU faulted police investigation of the armed robbery case where names of certain individuals indicted by the convicts for supplying them arms and ammunitions for the operation during the trial were not captured in the judgement.

But the leaders of thought and indigenes under the aegis of Offa Koya – Offa Kowosi Group, in a counter view stated that the opinions expressed at the press conference earlier on Thursday were simply that of the ODU home branch chairman, Chief Tajudeen Lanre Shittu, and does not in any way represent the position of the community.

It also accused Shittu of scheming to use the community platform for personal political gains, by doing the bidding of some political masters.

Chairman, Offa Koya – Offa Kowosi, Kunle Afolayan, stated this on Thursday, October 3, 2024, in a statement, while reacting to the ODU Chairman’s call for further investigation into the Offa robbery case.

Afolayan described the trial and judgement of the State High Court in Ilorin, which sentenced the convicted suspects to death as justice duly served, just as he frowned at any attempt to undermine the efforts made by the police during the investigation as well as in getting justice for the victim.

He said in the statement among others:“We categorically state that neither the Offa people nor their leaders were aware of nor endorsed the press conference called by the ODU chairman, Chief Tajudeen Lanre Shittu.

“It is a Machiavellian manoeuvre orchestrated by some powers in the state in a bid to implicate or maliciously smear the reputation of certain key figures.

“Shittu swallowed the bait having been promised a political appointment and the House of Representatives ticket in the 2027 elections as a quid pro quo for his services.

“We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the actions of Chief Tajudeen Lanre Shittu, the ODU Chairman, who has compromised his position, integrity, and the collective heritage of the Offa community for cheap political gains. His willingness to denigrate the community for personal aggrandizement is reprehensible.

“In contrast, the Offa community wholeheartedly applauds the Nigerian Police and the Judiciary for their diligence and commitment to justice, which has brought the perpetrators of the heinous Offa robbery incident to book.

“The police did a thorough and transparent investigation which was reviewed by the Office of the DPP while judgment has brought closure to the affected families and restored peace to our community.

“While we are conscious of the rights of the accused person to appeal the judgement, we must say that our people have waited for this long for justice to be done and be manifestly seen to be done.

“”We noted that it is the struggle to politicise both the investigation and the proceedings in the court that has delayed justice. It is the same old recourse to dirty politics that Shittu is doing now. Any attempt to condemn the police investigation that led us to this point is an indirect condemnation and rejection of the judgement that has resulted from it.

“We condemn any attempt to use the case to divert attention from the bad governance in the state and the recent poorly conducted LGA polls in the state. The people cannot be deceived. They know what is right and all the wrongs going on in the state”, the group stated.

The Offa Koya – Offa Kowosi group demanded Shittu to resign his position as ODU Chairman so as to enable him to freely pursue his political interest as a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), rather than causing unnecessary uproar and creating fresh trauma for families of the robbery victims.

“We therefore reject, outright, the exploitative tactics employed by some state political actors who seek to manipulate our community’s heritage for political leverage. The ODU chairman’s quest for the House of Representatives ticket under the All Progressives Congress (APC) does not grant him license to use Offa as a bargaining chip and reopen the wounds of the families of the victims.

“We urge Chief Shittu to honourably resign from his position as ODU chairman, relinquish his claims to community leadership, and pursue his political ambitions without hiding behind the cloak of community representation,” the group further stated.

Recall that Thirty-Three persons including pregnant women and police officers were on April 5, 2018 brutally killed in cold blood by the daredevil armed robbers in a coordinated attack on commercial banks in the community, after which millions of Naira were carted away.