Kwara State governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, has admitted that his government has been empowering youths in the state but that he could not be held responsible for what such youths do with the credits.

In a statement denying police allegation that he sponsored, funded and armed supporting political thugs who subsequently used such arms to rob banks and kill 33 people in Offa, Kwara State recently, the governor emphasized that while the state government had empowered several youth groups under its acclaimed Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) scheme, neither he nor the state government can be held liable for how beneficiaries utilize the credit.

The governor, in the statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communication, Dr. Muyideen Akorede, described the allegation as false, rejecting his alleged indictment by the Nigeria Police or the armed robbery suspects in their custody.

He advised the police to complete their investigations and charge the suspects to court soon in line with the dictates of the rule of law.

The Police had,  in statement today, Sunday, by the Police Public Relations Officer, ACP Jimoh Moshood, said that five gang leaders and some of the 17 Offa bank robbery suspects arrested had confessed that they were political thugs of Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed.

The Nigerian Police have reported five suspected leaders of the armed robbery gang that ruthlessly robbed banks and police station in Offa, Kwara state recently of confessing that they were political thugs of, and being sponsored by the Senate President , Dr. Bukola Saraki and Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State.

On the basis of such confession, the police have therefore invited the Senate President, “ to report to the Force Intelligence Response Team office at Guzape, Abuja to answer to the allegations leveled against him from the confessions of the Five (5) Gang Leaders, namely; Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibukunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Salawudeen Azeez, Niyi Ogundiran and some of the other Seventeen (17) suspects arrested for direct involvement and active participation in the Offa Bank Robbery and the gruesome killing of THIRTY THREE (33) innocent persons which includes (some pregnant women and nine (9) Police personnel).”.

In a statement today, Sunday by the Force Public Relations Officer, Force Headquarters, ACP Jimoh Moshood, the police narrated: “the Five gang leaders further confessed during investigation that they are political thugs under the name Youth Liberation Movement a.k.a “Good Boys” admitted and confessed to have been sponsored with firearms, money and operational vehicles by the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki and the Governor of Kwara State, Alh. Abdulfatah Ahmed.”.

“In the course of discreet investigation into the confessions of these five (5) gang leaders and the other seventeen (17) principal suspects, a Lexus jeep GX-300 (Ash Colour) with a sticker plate number with inscription  “SARAKI” “Kwara, State of Harmony” used by the gang leader (Ayoade Akinnibosun ‘M’ 37Yrs) during the bank robbery and the killing of the THIRTY THREE (33) innocent persons was taken to Government House, Ilorin  on 16th May, 2018 where the sticker plate number with inscription “SARAKI” “Kwara, State of Harmony” was removed before another plate number (Reg. No. Kwara, KMA 143 RM) registered in the name of Ayoade AKinnibosun the Overall Commander of the Offa Bank Robbery was then attached to the vehicle to cover up the identity of the said vehicle.  The exhibit vehicle was subsequently recovered from the premises of the Min. of Environmental and Forestry in Ilorin, Kwara State. While the sticker plate number with inscription “SARAKI” “Kwara, State of Harmony” removed from the vehicle was recovered from one Adeola Omiyale who drove the said Lexus Jeep to Government House, Ilorin immediately after the Bank Robbery.

“The Personal Assistant (Political) to the Executive Governor of Kwara State, Mr. Alabi Olalekan, who is privy to information that the Police is looking for the lexus Jeep as an exhibit used in the Offa Bank Robbery and the killings of THIRTY THREE (33) innocent persons directed one Adeola Omiyale to relocate the Lexus Jeep to Government House, Ilorin. The PA (Political) is currently in Police custody and has made useful statement assisting the Police in further investigation into the case. A revolver pistol and pump action gun were recovered by the Police Investigation Team from the Personal Assistant (Political) to the Executive Governor of Kwara State, Mr. Alabi Olalekan’s Farm where he directed his brother to hide them after his arrest by the Police.

“In order to conceal evidence, the Chief of Staff to the Executive Governor of Kwara State, Mr. Yusuf Abdulwahab who has been arrested and taken into Police custody, arranged the removal of the sticker plate number with inscription “SARAKI” “Kwara, State of Harmony” from the exhibit vehicle and also registered the exhibit Lexus Jeep used in the Offa Bank Robbery and the killings of THIRTY THREE (33) innocent persons in the name of Ayoade AKinnibosun, the overall Gang Commander of the Offa Bank Robbery while the Ayoade AKinnibosun was already in Police custody for more than six (6) days before the registration of the vehicle.

Part of the statement goes thus:

The investigation into the Offa Bank Robbery and gruesome killings of more than THIRTY THREE (33) Innocent persons in Offa, Kwara State on the 5th April, 2018 directed by the Inspector General of Police, IGP Ibrahim K. Idris, NPM, mni, has made significant progress, successes and more revelations have been recorded. The Gang Leaders and some of the principal suspects arrested for their active participation in the robbery and the killing of innocent persons have made confessional statements admitting to the various criminal roles they and their sponsors played in this dastard and heinous crime.

The Five (5) gang leaders namely; Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibukunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Salawudeen Azeez, Niyi Ogundiran and some of the other Seventeen (17) suspects arrested for direct involvement and active participation in the Offa Bank Robbery and the gruesome killing of THIRTY THREE (33) innocent persons which includes (some pregnant women and nine (9) Police personnel) admitted, confessed and volunteered statements that they were political thugs of the Senate President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Sen. Bukola Saraki and the Executive Governor of Kwara State, Alh. Abdulfatah Ahmed.

The arrests of the above mentioned Five (5) Gang Leaders and seventeen (17) others were made possible after the arrest of two principal suspects (Kunle Ogunleye aka Arrow 35yrs and Michael Adikwu an Ex-Convict) whose pictures captured by CCTV in one of the Banks during the Banks robbery were circulated to the media and the public. The two (2) principal suspects confessed to be among the suspects led by the five (5) gang leaders listed in paragraph 2 above to carry out the Offa Banks Robbery, the attack on the Divisional Police Headquarters, Offa and the killings of THIRTY THREE (33) innocent persons on the 5th of April, 2018.

During interrogation, the five (5) gang leaders mentioned in paragraph 2 further confessed and volunteered statements that they carried out the Bank Robberies, the attack on the Divisional Police Headquarters in Offa and the killings of THIRTY THREE (33) innocent persons during the robbery of the following six (6) banks (i) First Bank Offa (ii) Guarantee Trust Bank Offa (iii) ECO Bank Offa (iv) Zenith Bank Offa (v) Union Bank Offa (vi) Ibolo Micro Finance Bank Offa and (vii) the Divisional Police Headquarters, Offa  on 5th April, 2018.

Millions of Naira from the Banks and Twenty One (21) AK47 Rifles belonging to the Nigeria Police Force in the Armoury of  the Police Divisional Headquarters, Offa were admitted to have been carted away by the Five (5) gang leaders and the other Seventeen (17) principal suspects during the Banks robbery.

The Five (5) gang leaders confessed and volunteered statements to the Police investigators, giving a clear account of how they planned and carried out the Banks robbery operation in Offa, the attack on the Police Division in Offa and how they killed the THIRTY THREE (33) innocent persons during the robbery.

Investigation is ongoing and effort is being intensified to arrest other suspects still at large. All suspects involved will be arraigned in court for prosecution on completion of investigation.

Meanwhile, the Senate President, Sen. Bukola Saraki is being invited by the Nigeria Police Force to report to the Force Intelligence Response Team office at Guzape, Abuja to answer to the allegations levelled against him from the confessions of the Five (5) Gang Leaders, namely; Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibukunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Salawudeen Azeez, Niyi Ogundiran and some of the other Seventeen (17) suspects arrested for direct involvement and active participation in the Offa Bank Robbery and the gruesome killing of THIRTY THREE (33) innocent persons which includes (some pregnant women and nine (9) Police personnel).

The Nigeria Police Force will continue to ensure that the rule of law prevails in every case under Police investigation and every offender is brought to justice.

• Twenty Two (22) Suspects now in Police Custody.
• Senate President, Sen. Bukola Saraki is being invited to report to the Police to answer allegations indicting him from confessions of Five (5) Gang leaders arrested for active participation in Offa Bank Robbery and Killings of THIRTY THREE (33) Innocent persons.

SUSPECTS

1. Ayoade Akinnibosun a.k.a AY ‘M’ 37Yrs – Gang Leader (Coordinated the Killings) From Oro, Irepodun LGA, Kwara State.
2. Ibukunle Ogunleye ‘M’ 36Yrs – Gang Leader, Killed Two (2) Persons. From Oro, Irepodun LGA, Kwara State

iii.  Adeola Abraham ‘M’ 35Yrs – Gang Leader, Killed Five (5) Persons. From Oro, Irepodun LGA, Kwara State.

1. Salawudeen Azeez ‘M’ 49Yrs – Gang Leader, Killed Two (2) Persons. From Oro, Irepodun LGA, Kwara State.
2. Niyi Ogundiran ‘M’ 37Yrs – Gang Leader, Killed Two (2) Persons (Latest Confession). From Oro, Irepodun LGA, Kwara State.
3. Michael Adikwu ‘M’ 30Yrs – Sectional Gang Leader, Killed Twenty Two (22) Persons, mostly at the Police Station.

vii. Kabiru Afolabi ‘M’ 26Yrs – Principal Suspect

viii.  Omoseni Kassim ‘M’ 28Yrs – Principal Suspect

1. Kayode Opadokun ‘M’ 35Yrs – Principal Suspect
2. Kazeem Abdulrasheed ‘M’ 36Yrs – Principal Suspect
3. Azeez Abdullahi ‘M’ 27Yrs – Principal Suspect

xii.  Adewale Popoola ‘M’ 22Yrs – Principal Suspect

xiii.   Adetoyese Muftau ‘M’ 23Yrs – Principal Suspect

xiv.   Alexander Reuben ‘M’ 39Yrs – Principal Suspect

1. Richard Buba Terry ‘M’ 23Yrs – Principal Suspect

xvi. Peter Jasper Kuunfa ‘M’ 23Yrs – Principal Suspect

xvii.   Ikechukwu Ebuka Nnaji ‘M’ 29Yrs – Principal Suspect

xviii.  Moses Godwin ‘M’ 28Yrs – Principal Suspect

xix.   Adeola omiyale ‘M’ 38Yrs. From Isanlu Isin Town, Isin LGA, Kwara State.

1. Femi Idowu ‘M’ 34Yrs

xxi.   Alabi Olalekan ‘M’ 49Yrs-PA Political to Executive Governor, Kwara State

xxii.  Yusuf Abdulwahab ‘M’ 58Yrs –Chief of Staff to Executive Governor, Kwara State

EXHIBITS

1. Two (2) AK47 Rifles
2. Two (2) Barrette Pistols

iii.        One (1) Pump Action Rifle

1. One (1) Revolver Pistol – In Police Custody in Ilorin
2. Lexus RX300 Jeep with Reg. No. Kwara, KMA 143 RM belonging to Ayoade Akinnibosun (Gang Leader) – Used for the Bank Robbery
3. Mercedes Benz – Compressor with Reg. No. Lagos LT496 KJA belonging to Ayoade Akinnibosun (Gang Leader) – Used for the Bank Robbery

vii.        One (1) Toyota Prado Jeep with Reg. No. 19KWGH belonging to the PA Political to the Executive Governor, Kwara State – In Police Custody in Ilorin

viii.        One (1) Toyota Camry Saloon Car with Reg. No. LRN 481 FE – In Police Custody in Ilorin

1. The Cash Sum of Six Hundred Thousand Naira (N600,000.00) – In Police Custody in Ilorin
2. Four (4) Phones of victims recovered
3. One (1) Sticker plate number with inscription “SARAKI” “Kwara, State of Harmony.” [myad]

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has swore that the Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government has dealt a big blow on what he called ‘grand corruption.’

“In terms of corruption, I think that we were able to deal with grand corruption. By that, I mean the sort of corruption where you found huge sums of money missing from the treasury and all of that. And because we were able to control grand corruption, we were able to do more with far less.”

The Vice President made the points in a special interview he granted, David Pilling (Africa Editor of the Financial Times), at the Financial Times Nigeria Summit, with the theme: “Dispelling Uncertainty and  Building Resilience,” at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos.

Read the interview:

Q: Views of critics that the Buhari administration didn’t make the most opportunity of the recession to diversify the economy.
Vice President: First, the nature of the crisis, of course, even beyond low oil prices, we were also experiencing considerably reduced oil production. At some point, we were producing less than a million barrels of oil per day, that being the major source of revenue at the time. But I think that what we did during that period was also very important in bringing the strong outcome that we are seeing today.
In terms of corruption, I think that we were able to deal with grand corruption. By that, I mean the sort of corruption where you found huge sums of money missing from the treasury and all of that. And because we were able to control grand corruption, we were able to do more with far less. So, for example, we invested N1.3 trillion in 2016 on capital for the very first time in almost 10 years of the country’s economic history.
So, if we were able to invest more when oil prices at some point, were $50 or $60, than when oil prices were at $110, $114; especially on infrastructure and capital; I’m sure anyone could say that there is something wrong with that. I think we managed to do far more with less.
Q: What else had been done by the administration?
Vice President: If you look at the different sectors, let’s take agriculture, for example, we have recorded very significant growth in agriculture. We are looking to gain at least 3.6 per cent growth in agriculture. That is particularly important to us, because in thinking of diversification of our economy, agriculture is, of course, a fitting point, and we closed that gap. Take rice for example, we were importing rice in the order of about $1.6 billion a year, which is about $5 million every day. Today, we are down to importing just about two per cent of the rice that we consume. So we have at least, ramped up rice production, we are practically self-sufficient.
Q: What role did government play in this regard?
Vice President: No, it is creating the right environment. For example, the Anchors Borrowers Programme was an important programme in getting people back to the farms, and also, which is one very part of this whole process, we supported the big millers in being able to increase a lot of the paddy rice that was being produced.
So there was a genuine effort to ensure that we are able to not just ramp up the production of rice, but also milling, and we found that the private sector responded to that, and we found the big millers, WACOT and others. Dangote is now investing about a million metric tonnes of milling capacity. I think that at this stage, agriculture has recorded significant improvement.
Also mining, because of the focus on mining, growth continued through the recession and growth has continued even now…
Q: Nigeria’s manufacturing capabilities.
Vice President: We are trying to create the right environment for manufacturing, and for business generally. And we took time to focus on the business environment with our Ease of Doing Business initiative, and we worked on various areas, including access to credit, access to registration of title, company registration, taxation and all of those things.
We looked at all of the different areas in our Ease of Doing Business, with a view to making life easier, to creating the right environment for manufacturing and for business generally. And we’ve recorded significant growth and this we are seeing in the growth that we are seeing today.
I’m sure you are familiar with how our World Bank rating went up and we were also considered one of the best reforming countries in the world.
Of course, there has been a lot of damage to the environment in terms of business and all that, but correcting that would take a while, don’t forget that we (this administration) are barely three years old. And we are focused on doing the right thing.
Q: A four-year term seems too short for Nigeria…
Vice President: I think that for anyone who is in office, it would be too small (general laughter), because obviously you have all manner of plans and things to deliver. But my take is that the moment you have the right people and you put the right structures in place, you can do a lot, and I think we’ve been blessed with an incredibly good team.
Q: What areas hasn’t the administration been able to achieve all that it had planned to?
Vice President: I think the one thing we wanted was for us to be much farther ahead in terms of manufacturing. But a lot of these things are also infrastructure constraints that cannot be developed overnight; which explains why we are investing heavily in infrastructure; rail, road and power, especially rail. This is the significant part of the investment that we are doing; concessioning the Lagos-Kano to General Electric, the narrow gauge, developing the standard gauge is important in terms of just movement of goods and all that. A lot of these initiatives would be a great help in moving goods.
Q: Why hasn’t Nigeria signed the African Free Trade Agreement yet?
Vice President: Nigeria has one of the most vibrant private sectors. Manufacturers associations, in particular, and several others felt that we shouldn’t go into this without further consultations, and we wanted to know exactly what specifically in terms of negotiations that will follow the signing of the framework. And it was the President’s opinion that it would be much wiser for us to suspend the signing until all of those engagements had been done to the satisfaction of the private sector. We work very closely with the private sector in practically everything that we have done.
For us, it is important to sit back, take a look at those negotiations first before heading into the framework, which is really what we are doing at the moment. So, where we are is that we are looking at the nitty gritty and we are trying to be sure how it is going to play for our private sector people, for industry, for trade, etc. We are not saying we are going to renegotiate the framework; the framework is already there. Our greater concern is for the specifics. And we are at a point where before we go into that, we will certainly make sure that we are happy with the terms and conditions.
Q: How is the administration tackling Nigeria’s security challenges?
Vice President: First of all, let me say that the nature of the security threats is asymmetric coping with it. And this is the same with countries all over the world; coping with terrorism is the sort of thing that most countries are grappling with.
I think that we are dealing with that as well. And my take is that the way we are going about it is the right way, in other words, we are working with partners in the sub-region to ensure that we are able to stem the flow of small arms for example.
We are also working on developing our local capacity. One of the strong initiatives that we are pushing is community policing; because a lot of the terrorism that you see are the sorts of opportunistic attacks that require local policing. And one of the strong initiatives that we are pushing is the whole question of the state police; more local and community policing, and we are working on those initiatives with the governors, like in the National Economic Council, which I have the privilege of chairing. We are trying to see how we can do more in terms of local policing, intelligence gathering, in order to be able to respond much more quickly to some of the threats that we see.
For example, in Benue State, we have deployed Special Forces now to several of the places where we have the disturbances. So, it is an ongoing engagement, and, as I said, asymmetric threat of this nature means that we just have to keep planning ahead as much as we can.
Q: Criticisms of government’s efforts in tackling herdsmen/farmers clashes.
Vice President: If you look at the herdsmen/farmers clashes, it is a different type of problem (to the issue of Boko Haram) and it has to be dealt with differently. Note that this crisis did not start with the Buhari government. These clashes have been going on for years. I think we are at a point that we believe that the right response; our response, has to be robust to ensuring that we are able to keep communities safe, which is what is going on. We are doing that in various parts of the North central.
Q: On Nigeria’s dependence on oil revenue.
Vice President: I think that what we are doing is that we are managing our finances far better. Today oil prices are about $80 a barrel. Our reserves are at $47 billion, which is the highest in about 10 years, comparable to 2013 when oil prices were higher. So beside the Sovereign Wealth Fund, we have invested far more; we’ve almost tripled our investment in the Sovereign Wealth Fund.
I think the question about whether you spend or you don’t spend is really more a question of how you manage the resources in the first place. For us, I think that the management of resources has been a strong point. I think we have managed our resources well. Which explains why we focus a great deal on diversifying; agriculture, manufacturing. We’ve focused on trying to diversify as much as possible, and we think that it is the path to go. There is no other way of doing this.
And if you look at the figures, there has been tremendous improvement, in the export of raw materials, agriculture produce, even manufacturing has improved. I think that we are on the right path. I am convinced that we are going to stay the course.

The Police Command has said that the policeman who was involved in the shooting of Opeyemi Bamidele and one other person at the Ekiti APC secretariat on Fridaywas in the state on “illegal duty.”

The policeman was reportedly deployed for bank guard duties in Ikeja, Lagos State, but he made his way to Ekiti State, the Command said.

In its situation report released today, Saturday by its Public Relations Officer, DSP Caleb Chukwuemeka, the Command said that findings revealed that what happened was a case of accidental discharge on the part of the mobile police officer.

”On Friday, 1st June, 2018, at about 17:00 hours, the policeman accidentally shot Opeyemi Bamidele and one other, but he has been arrested.

”He is attached to 20 PMF, Ikeja, Lagos State, where he was posted on bank guard duties somewhere in Ikeja. The policeman came on illegal duty to Ekiti State.

”A politician, who conspired and removed the said policeman from where he was posted by his Squadron Commander and came to Ado-Ekiti with him for an unofficial reason has also been arrested.

”The victims of his accidental discharge are currently responding to treatment at the hospital, while the injured policeman is also responding to treatment in protective custody,’’ he said.

 Source: NAN.