Offa Robbery: Robbers stole 21 rifles from police armoury – Witness

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No fewer than 21 AK 47 rifles were stolen from the armoury of Offa Police Station, a witness at the Friday resumed hearing of the Offa robbery case of April 5, 2018, Inspector Hitila Hassan, has disclosed.

Hassan is the prosecution witness in the case.

Led in evidence by Wahab Egbewole at an Ilorin High Court, he said the discovery was made in the course of investigation into the robbery case.

His words:  “We visited the armoury at Offa Police Station where we discovered that no fewer than 21 AK 47 rifles were carted away by the armed robbers.

“We also gathered from the accused persons that the late Michael Adikwu after the attacks on the banks headed for the police station and started shouting that he had come on a revenge mission over his dismissal from the force.

“Then he started shooting sporadically in every direction at the station.

“Having carefully watched the footages of the CCTV, we identified the faces in the camera and then circulated them in the social media for Nigerians to assist us in the arrest of the culprits.

“Through that we generated our intelligence that led to the arrest of one Ibikunle Ogunleye in Oro, Irepodun Local Government Area of the state.

“Initially, he denied having anything to do with the incident but when confronted with CCTV evidence, he confessed and said he was one of the persons inside the banks wielding AK47 rifles.

“His arrest assisted us in the arrest of four other accused persons standing trial.’’

Justice Halimat Salman presiding over the case adjourned  till February 19 and February 20 for continuation of the trial.

It would be recalled that the Offa robbery left no fewer than 33 people dead, including policemen.

The controversy surrounding the case was heightened when police claimed that the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, was implicated by the suspected robbers arrested over the case.

Saraki had denied any involvement in the case, describing the allegation as political.

Frontpage news.

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