One of the prosecution witnesses in the ongoing
Offa robbery case, Insp Hitila Hassan, said on
Friday that no fewer than 21 AK 47 rifles were
stolen from the armoury of a police station in the
community.
The witness, who was being led by the
prosecutor, Prof. Wahab Egbewole, spoke at the
resumed hearing of the case at an Ilorin High
Court.
No fewer than 33 people, including nine
policemen, were killed in the bloody robbery on
April 5, 2018.
The witness identified the five accused persons
undergoing trial as accomplices of the late main
suspect, Micheal Adikwu.
They are Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibikunle Ogunleye,
Adeola Abraham, Salaudeen Azeez and Niyi
Ogundiran.
He also told the court that the Closed Circuit
Television (CCTV) footages of the robbed banks
disclosed the identity of the accused, culminating
in their arrest.
Hassan, an officer attached to the Inspector
General of Police Intelligence Response Team
(IRT), said other members of the gang were still
at large.
IRT was set up by the former IGP Ibrahim Idris
and is headed by an Assistant Commissioner of
Police, Abba Kyari.
He said his team was in Ilorin on the directive of
the then IGP to fish out the perpetrators of the
dastardly act.
Hassan said his team worked with officers of the
Criminal Investigation Department on its
assignment.
“ 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,’’ he said.
Earlier, Insp Yusuf Dauda, an exhibit keeper at the
headquarters of the Nigeria Police in Ilorin, also
testified.
He said on April 10, 2018, a former Divisional
Police Officer in Offa Local Government, CSP
Danjuma Adamu, handed to him some weapons
and ammunition allegedly used in the robbery
operation.
Dauda said that the ammunition included 39
expended 7.6mm ammunition, four expended
5.6mm, two expended blank cartridges, four used
bullets, one live 5.6mm ammunition, one cartridge
safety box on which Ikoyi South West, Lagos,
Nigeria, was written and a damaged padlock.
He also said that on April 15, 2018, Hassan
attached to the IGP response team, also brought
one Lexus Jeep on which a sticker bearing,
“Saraki, †was written with its key, a Kompressor
Mercedes Benz and four stickers bearing “Saraki â€
The prosecution tendered all the items as exhibits
in the case.
Justice Halimat Salman adjourned the case till
Feb. 19 and Feb. 20 for continuation of hearing.
(NAN)
Source: thenationonlineng.net/offa-robbery-21-ak-47-rifles-stolen-armoury-witness/
