By Foster Obi
Following the incident where armed robbers blew up the entrances of five banks in central Nigeria’s Offa town with dynamite, in an operation which lasted for more than an hour after the close of business and left six policemen and over 30 civilians dead, Gov. Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara, has offered N5million to anyone who provides information that will lead to the arrest of those involved in the robbery. The offer was made in a statement by the Governor’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Dr Muyideen Akorede on Saturday.
The governor called on anyone with useful information on the incident to contact the state police command on the following numbers (0803 739 1280 and 0803 702 4320).
“While we mourn our dead with a heart full of sadness, and care for the injured by paying all their medical bills. “We will do everything in our power to bring the attackers to justice, and ensure that never again does any community or people in our state experience such tragedy”, Gov. Ahmed said.
Gov. Ahmed assured such informants of anonymity, confidentiality and safety, as no harm will befall them on account of assisting the security agencies to arrest the attackers.
He said the police and other security agencies in the country have begun a vigorous manhunt for the perpetrators of the dastardly and wicked attack on Offa community.
Speaking to BBC Yoruba on the robbery, Kwara State police spokesman Ajayi Okasanmi said the police are investigating and working with the bank managers to ascertain how much was carted away.
The incident has drawn widespread condemnation with graphic pictures of killed policemen and residents posted on social media. The heavily armed gang had attacked the Owode Police Station where they killed the policemen, before raiding the banks within the market area.
Police had recovered some of the vehicles stolen during the raid, Mr Okasanmi said. Officers were unable to stop the robbers because they were firing sporadically in a densely populated business district, he added. Robberies like this one have become a regular occurrence in Offa.
