Offa Robbery: Police arrest two wanted suspects

Two of the gang leaders and principal suspects of the gang that attack commercial banks in Offa, Kwara State, have been arrested, the police said yesterday.

Kunle Ogunleye, 35, aka arrow, a native of Kwara, and Michael Adikwu, from Apa Local Government Area of Benue State, were arrested by the operatives of the Inspector-General of Police (IG) Intelligence Response Team (IRT) in Kwara two weeks ago.

The robbers attacked five commercial banks in Offa on April 5, during which 17 persons, including policemen and a pregnant woman were killed.

The force spokesman, Jimoh Moshood, an Assistant Commissioner (ACP) in a statement in Abuja yesterday, said the suspects have confessed to be the gang-leaders of their groups.

“The two suspects have confessed to the crime and admitted to the various criminal roles they played in the robbery. They will be charged to court on completion of investigation,” he said.
He said Adikwu, who was a police corporal, was dismissed for criminal conspiracy and aiding the escape from custody of armed robbery suspects.

“He served three years in Prison and subsequently found his way out in 2015,”he said.
The spokesman said that the arrest of the two gang leaders had brought the number of suspects arrested so far in connection with the Offa banks robbery to 22.

He commended members of the public and other patriotic Nigerians for the timely information leading to the arrest of the 22 who are currently in police custody.

Moshood enjoined members of the public with any information about other suspects still at large should feel free to contact the police through the following Phone numbers 08062080913, 08126285268, 08032365122, 07056792065, 08088450152.

“Protection of the informant will be guaranteed by the police and handsome rewards in addition to the pledge of N5 million by the Kwara Government await anyone whose information leads to the arrest of these wanted suspects,” he said.

The police spokesman said the force would leave no stone unturned in ensuring that all the perpetrators of the robbery were rounded up and prosecuted.