Offa Bank Robbery: 30 Feared Dead

About 30 armed robbers attacked three commercial banks in Offa, Kwara state Thursday evening.

The number of persons that lost their lives to the bank robbery in Offa, Offa Local Government Area of Kwara State, on Thursday may have risen to 30, PUNCH reports.

This was a sharp increase from 12, comprising six policemen and six civilians, that was reported on Friday.

The robbers were said to have had a free day robbing while the operation lasted.

The Kwara state Police Public Relations Officer confirmed the incident Mr. Ajayi Okasanmi.

Several eyewitnesses said body count at the scene of the incident indicated that those who lost their lives were about 30.

Sources told PUNCH that the operation lasted for over one hour. It was also learnt that the armed robbers, who were about 30, blew up the entrances to the banks with dynamite and reportedly carted away millions of naira.

They had shot aimlessly and killed many people during the operation.

Meanwhile, the Kwara State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Lawan Ado, said on Friday that nine policemen and seven civilians were killed by the armed robbers that stormed five banks in Offa.

Ado said, “Nine police personnel and seven civilians were killed during the robbery operations,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, has pledged that the state government would pay the medical bills of the victims of the accident.

Speaking when he visited the victims at the hospital on Friday, the governor, who had ordered that the victims be moved from Offa to Ilorin for better medical care, had, on his Facebook page, directed health services in the state to rapidly deploy emergency services to treat those injured in the attack.

Also, the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, said he had discussed the matter with the governor and that those who carried out the attacks must be found and prosecuted accordingly.

Saraki, in his Facebook post, described the robbery incident as “a despicable act committed by cruel individuals”.

He added, “I spoke to Governor Ahmed to offer my condolences over the lives that were lost in the attack, and we both agreed that no stone will be left unturned until the perpetrators of this heinous act are caught and brought to justice. We will remain relentless until everyone who planned or carried out this attack faces the full wrath of the law.”





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