Cop narrates encounter during Offa bank robbery, why he ran

Sergeant Sulaiman Mahmoud, a station guard at the Offa Police Station on Tuesday told a Kwara High Court why the police could not stop the armed robbers who invaded five banks and the station in Offa on April 5, 2018.

According to Mahmoud, policemen on duty that day did not have access to the station’s armoury when the robbers attacked the station.

The policeman revealed this while testifying before the court during the continuation of the trial of the five accused persons arrested for the robbery, adding that the policemen on duty at the time of the robbery were helpless as they had no guns to confront the robbers.

He further stated that the police officer, who was in charge of the armoury, was sick and was sleeping when the robbers invaded the station.

“The policemen on duty could not gain access to the armoury, where weapons are kept in the station,” he said.

Mahmoud, the sixth prosecution witness in the case, while answering questions from the defence counsel during cross examination, said he was the station guard on the day of the incident and when he heard gunshots from the robbers, he also fired some shots in the air before he ran into the station office as his own gun got hooked and could no longer function.

Read also: How suspected armed robbers killed 17 in Offa bank robbery —Police

He said: “When I noticed that the robbers were advancing towards the police station, I ran into the station office first, but the armoury officer, Inspector Oke Kayode, was ill and on medication and was sleeping in his office when the robbers struck.

“He was the officer in charge of the armoury; he was killed right inside his office, while sleeping because he was on medication at the time the armed robbers invaded the police station.”

He also said that he lost his AK-47 rifle during the robbery, as it dropped while he was scaling the fence of the station to escape the superior fire power of the robbers.

According to him, he could not shoot directly at the robbers because he did not want to kill innocent people.

“When the robbers started shooting, people were rushing towards the police station.

“So, I started shooting in the air. I didn’t want to shoot the robbers so that I would not kill innocent people.”

The trial judge, Justice Halima Saleeman, while responding to complaint of the first accused person, Ayoade Akinnibosun, ordered the Federal Correctional Centre, Ilorin, to see to his medical complaint.

The defence counsel, Mathias Emeribe, had told the court that Akinnibosun was having severe pain on his wrist, ankle and right lap.

All the five accused persons, Akinnibosun, Ibikunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Salahudeen Azeez and Niyi Ogundiran, were in court on Tuesday.

Justice Saleeman adjourned trial to December 21 and 22, 2020, after agreeing to an adjournment requested by the prosecution counsel, Razak Gold.

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