Senator
bukola saraki
Offa
Senator
bukola saraki
Offa Robbery: Saraki Insists on Inquiry into Death of
Key Suspect
Following eventual disclosure by the Police that Michael Adikwu,
the principal suspect in the deadly bank robbery attacks in Offa,
Kwara State, on April 5, 2018, is dead, the President of the
Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has called on the Presidency to
institute a judicial inquiry into the ‘how and when’ the suspect
died.
In a statement by his Special Adviser (Media and Publicity),
Yusuph Olaniyonu, Saraki noted that the new disclosure by the
Police has vindicated his earlier claim that the suspect had been
murdered in police custody and that the investigation was
politically motivated to implicate him (Senate President), 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 and whether the investigation followed the
normal process and comply with global best practices.
He added that the Police needed to confirm why it took them so
long to make the disclosure about the death of the principal
suspect after they categorically denied it at the time he (Saraki)
disclosed the information and it was reported in the media.
“It should be recalled that when we mentioned it that the
principal suspect had been murdered and that investigation into the
Offa robbery attack was politically motivated and targeted at
implicating me and other individuals, the Police Public Relations
Officer, Moshood Jimoh said: ‘Michael Adikwu is in Police custody.
You know that he is the one that led the killing of 22 people. The
fire arms that were carted away, he is helping the police in the
investigation to recover them. There is a state in the South-west
where they kept him. I can’t mention the state. It is in one of the
South-west states’.
“The fresh facts have now thrown more light into why there had
been inconsistencies in the various statements by the police. The
Police initially told the Attorney-General of Kwara State that the
principal suspect was alive and they only later reluctantly
disclosed that he died in the course of arrest. 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 give 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.
“The inquiry may help to further document and define the terms
of handling of suspects in police custody and how to prevent
extra-judicial killing of suspects, for whatever purpose. There is
need for transparency in investigations into all cases and our
methods should comply with global standards. We should discourage
situations where police politicize investigations and deliberately
set out to frame some individuals.
“With the facts on ground, the issues that should be unearthed
by the inquiry include: When exactly did the suspect die? How did
he die? Why was the police denying the facts of his death when they
knew he had died? At what point did the Police leadership knew of
the death? Why are the police covering up the facts? We believe the
answer to these questions will help the country to address the
issue of human rights abuse, extra-judicial killing, manipulation
of criminal investigation to achieve political end, deliberate
attempt to cover up some facts and how skewed investigation of
crime can impact on successful prosecution of suspects,” he
added.
Saraki stated that now that the Police have commenced
prosecution of the remaining suspects in court, there should be
diligent and prompt prosecution so that justice can be
transparently done to both the victims of the Offa robbery and the
accused persons.
Signed
Yusuph Olaniyonu
Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) to the President of the
Senate