Group Insists On Justice Over Offa Bank Robbery

The Kwara Governance Reform Group (KGRG) yesterday called for respect for due process over the renewed investigation into the Offa robbery case.

It warned that attempts to frame the matter as political persecution would amount to undermining justice for the victims of the 2018 bloody Offa bank robbery incident where at least 32 persons including policemen lost their lives.

Addressing newsmen in Ilorin, the state capital, the group’s publicity secretary, Latifah Arewa, said the case should be treated strictly as a legal issue rather than a political contest.

She said the group had observed with keen interest, the reopening of investigations.

Arewa explained that the renewed attention on the case did not originate from any government vendetta, but from a petition submitted by the Offa Descendants’ Union (ODU) on October 3, 2024, urging the state government to investigate individuals allegedly mentioned by convicted suspects.

She recalled that Justice Haleema Salman of the Kwara State High Court had earlier convicted and sentenced five suspects to death by hanging for their roles in the 2018 attack, a ruling that, according to her, strengthened calls for wider investigation.

“The ODU made it clear that justice would not be complete until every individual linked to the crime, directly or indirectly, is subjected to due process,” she said.

She further noted that the Court of Appeal in Ilorin, in January 2026, upheld the convictions and death sentences of the five convicts for offences including armed robbery, illegal possession of firearms, and culpable homicide.