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The Kwara State Government has announced that it has received a petition from the Offa community urging the prosecution of certain individuals in connection with the bank robbery that occurred on April 5, 2018.
The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mallam Rafiu Ajakaye, disclosed this on Tuesday during the second quarter of the Kwara State Ministerial Cabinet press briefing, coordinated by the State Ministry of Communications.
Ajakaye stated, “The state government has recently received a fresh petition regarding the Offa bank robbery from the Offa Descendants Union, following the court judgment that certain individuals in the state should be prosecuted for their roles in the robbery incident.”
The Chief Press Secretary did not disclose the names of those mentioned in the petition but indicated that the State Ministry of Justice would review the petition and take appropriate action.
In response to a question regarding the controversies surrounding the urban renewal project of Governor AbdulRazaq’s administration, Ajakaye asserted that those attacking the government for embarking on the project were deliberately attempting to distract from the call by the Offa community for the state government to prosecute certain individuals linked to the robbery.
He stated that the government was currently reviewing the petition and, if convinced that specific individuals should be prosecuted, it would not hesitate to proceed with legal action.
Also speaking at the press briefing, the State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Barrister Ibrahim Sulyman, revealed that the state government is currently prosecuting 200 criminal cases perpetrated between May 2024 and the present date.
Of this figure, he noted that the State Ministry of Justice, through its Department of Public Prosecution, has so far secured 57 convictions.
Sulyman indicated that many of the ongoing cases are serious, including homicide, kidnapping, robbery, and rape.
Represented by the Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Musa Idris, the Commissioner stated that the ministry had also issued 262 legal advisories on various cases.
During the period under review, the Commissioner explained that the ministry’s Department of Revenue Services has received 35 tax defaulter cases from the Kwara State Internal Revenue Service, of which 12 have been concluded while 23 remain pending.
In her speech, the State Commissioner for Women’s Affairs, Mrs Afolashade Oluwakemi, expressed concern over the increasing cases of neglect of wives and children by men, stating that the ministry has intervened and resolved 15 such cases.
The Commissioner for Water Resources, Usman Lade, announced plans by the state government to initiate an irrigation project aimed at ensuring year-round agriculture in partnership with the African Development Bank.
He stated that two irrigation sites—the Omu-Aran irrigation site and the Dukulade irrigation site—have been considered for the project as they meet the requirement of having at least 500 hectares of land.
Regarding efforts to end open defecation, Lade disclosed that the state government, under its RUWASA project, has constructed 10 smart toilets in each of the three local governments.
