By Kayode Abdulazeez, Ilorin
The apex union of Sons and Daughters of Offa, under the aegis of Offa Descendants’ Union, ODU, has expressed dissatisfaction over the recent judgment by the State High Court where five of the gangs of the deadly April 5th, 2018 Offa-banks robbery were sentenced to death by hanging.
Addressing Journalists on the matter at a press conference held at the ODU hall in Offa, on Thursday, the Chairman of the home branch of the union, Chief Tajudeen Lanre Shittu, lauded the judiciary for the judgment and raised questions about how the investigation that led to the judgment was carried out by the police.
In his words, “As much as we appreciate the conviction of the suspects, Offa as a community have reservations for the way the investigation was handled by the police as though it pleases us that the culprits would not go unpunished; we are aware that they have their rights to appeal to the Supreme Court of Nigeria, but we will never relent to pursue any attempt made by evil doers and ensure that full justice is achieved on the heartless souls including those who have link with them during the course of investigation.”
“This is a major concern to our community and a very important course we have resolved to pursue to a logical conclusion.
“More so, the Offa community will like the investigation to be extended further in the following regards to identify and unravel “The people who supplied the vehicle used for the robbery.
“The people mentioned during the course of investigation.
“From the above two germane points, we hereby state categorically that Offa community remains not only grateful but unsatisfied with the way the police ended as we, as a community, consider the investigation leading to the judgement as inconclusive and an attempt to cover and protect the names of those who were identified by the robbers during investigation.
“We therefore vehemently call for further and thorough investigation and arrest of those who provided logistics to the robbers. All the names mentioned by the convicted persons should be investigated thoroughly for proper justice to be served.
“We therefore call on Kwara state government to revisit the incident through the holistic probing of all the factors, notions and personalities, so as to remove the public impression and conclusion that the said Nigeria Police investigation of the April 2018 Offa Bank Robbery is incomplete. This is Offa Community Un-negotiable Demand and Prayers”, they added.