Nigeria’s Attorney-General, Abubakar Malami, has told the police that there was no evidence that linked Senate President Bukola Saraki and Kwara State Governor Abdulfattah Ahmed to the armed robbery attack that left 31 persons dead in Offa, Kwara State, in April,PREMIUM TIMES

Nigeria’s Attorney-General, Abubakar Malami, has
told the police that there was no evidence that linked
Senate President Bukola Saraki and Kwara State
Governor Abdulfattah Ahmed to the armed robbery
attack that left 31 persons dead in Offa, Kwara State,
in April, PREMIUM TIMES can now confirm.
Mr Malami advised in a June 22 letter to the
Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, that the
police would need to ramp up their investigation and
also painstakingly explore all critical areas before
identifying the Senate President as a suspect in the
carnage, much less filing charges against him.
Yusuf Abdulwahab, Mr Ahmed’s chief of staff who
was amongst state officials arrested for allegedly
conspiring with the prime suspects, was also cleared,
with the prosecutor saying “no evidence is credible
enough to sustain any charge based on any offence
known to law against him.”
The attorney-general’s office said only six prime
suspects should be charged to court for armed
robbery and murder which could draw capital
punishment upon conviction. Olalekan Alabi, a
personal assistant to Mr Ahmed, was also
recommended for trial, but only on lesser charges of
illegal possession of arms.
Mr Saraki hinted at the existence of the letter on
Monday night as part of a fierce response to Mr
Idris’ latest summon to him. The Senate President
said the invitation, which he was asked to honour by
8:00 a.m. today, was unnecessary because the
Director of Public Prosecutions had already informed
the police that there were no sufficient bases to keep
dragging him into the armed robbery investigation.
“I am aware that following a request made by the
Police on June 13, 2018 to the Director of Public
Prosecution (DPP) of the Federation had written a
legal advice dated June 22, 2018, in which he stated
on page 5, paragraph (f) that “For the Senate
President and the Kwara State Governor, this office
is unable to establish from the evidence in the
interim report a nexus between the alleged office
and the suspects,” Mr Saraki said in the Monday
night statement.
At least five banks were raided and substantial
amount of cash carted away when armed robbers
stormed the polytechnic town on April 5. The police
initially said 17 people were killed in the attack,
including nine police officers, but continued to revise
the figure upwards, apparently as some of those
receiving treatments for critical wounds were
passing on.
Keep Digging
PREMIUM TIMES obtained a copy of the letter on Tuesday, which was
signed for Mr Malami by DPP Mohammed Umar and confirmed exactly
what Mr Saraki disclosed.
Mr Umar examined the crime and the suspects the police lined up in
their first information report submitted to the attorney-general’s
office for prosecution, and came up with legal and technical
suggestions about how to properly build a case that would not be
discarded at a glance when the potential criminal trial gets underway.
“For the Senate President and the Kwara State Governor, this office is
unable to establish from the evidence in the interim report a nexus
between the alleged offence and the suspects,” the prosecutor said.
At least 12 suspects were arrested at multiple locations within the first
week of the attack. Six weeks later, the police said they had taken two
more suspects into custody , including the alleged mastermind Michael
Adikwu, after a composite CCTV picture of the suspects was circulated
by the police.
The police identified a picture one of the robbery suspects took with
Mr Saraki at his daughter’s wedding last year as a key evidence that
linked the Senate President to both the suspects and the crime.The
police also said one of the vehicles used by the suspects had a dummy
number plate with Mr Saraki’s name inscribed on it.
Also, some officials of Kwara State government were also arrested and
one of the vehicles allegedly used in the robbery was found in the
home of a commissioner. All the state officials denied allegations, and
some were later released without charges.
Mr Saraki was initially invited for questioning in early June, but this
approach was later abandoned by the police who asked him to turn in
a written response to the allegations instead. The police had been
largely mum about the matter, until the sudden invitation that was
circulated.
In his statement Monday, Mr Saraki said he denied all allegations of
involvement in the planning or execution of the robbery in his June 7
statement to the police. .
The Senate President said the police were a key actor in an elaborate,
federal government-backed scheme aimed at railroading him into
remaining at the ruling All Progressives Congress.
“This plot aimed at compelling me and my associates to stay in a party
where members are criminalised without just cause, where injustice is
perpetrated at the highest level and where there is no respect for
constitutionalism is an exercise in futility and it will fail,” Mr Saraki
said.
The scenes that played out throughout Tuesday largely confirmed Mr
Saraki’s fears that the police were being used to executive a devious
political gambit, PREMIUM TIMES found.
The Senate President had recently been freed of false and anticipatory
assets declaration charges after a lengthy trial that lasted nearly three
years..He insisted throughout his trial that the charges were
politically-motivated and would not stand.
The first indication that the robbery investigation might have been
politicised emerged when the Kwara State judiciary demanded that
the suspects who were arrested and taken to Abuja over the case
should be returned to the state. The institution said the state chief
prosecutor had already concluded preliminary findings and had
notified the court of a criminal proceeding into the case before the
police abruptly seized the suspects.
While the suspects were being transferred to Abuja, Mr Saraki fired a
preemptive short, alleging that the police wanted to use the suspects
to implicate him. After spending days in police custody, the suspects
allegedly confessed that Mr Saraki was their sponsor.
Mr Ahmed, whom the Senate President said tipped him off about the
police ploy, also strongly denied all allegations he sponsored the
suspects.
Authorities in Kwara contradicted the alleged confession, saying all the
suspects wrote statements following their arrest in Ilorin and none of
them mentioned Mr Saraki, much less incriminating him.
For the police to avoid a similar outcome with the latest allegations,
they would need to work harder, the attorney-general’s office warned.
The three-pronged blanks that the police must sufficiently fill before
bringing charges against Messrs Saraki and Ahmed include whether
the planning and the execution of the robbery attack were carried out
at their instance, knowledge or approval; whether the weapons used
for the robbery attack were supplied by either of the top politicians;
and any other areas that may assist in establishing that they were
aiding and abetting criminal activities.
The prosecutor also said the police would need to conduct deeper
investigation before any charges could be brought against Mr
Abdulwahab.
Police spokesperson Jimoh Moshood did not return PREMIUM TIMES
requests for comments between Tuesday and Wednesday. Mr Umar
declined comments about whether the police have updated their
findings since receiving his letter in June.
Fine-tuning Grey Areas
The attorney-general’s office used the larger parts of the letter to
rubbish some of the facts submitted by the police and went on to offer
tips on how to build a water-tight case against even the prime
suspects.
The six suspects recommended for trial were: Ayoade Akinnibosun,
Ibikunle Ogunleye, Adeola Ibrahim, Salawudeen Azeez, Niyi Ogundiran
and Mr Adikwu. The prosecutor said they should be charged with the
offences of criminal conspiracy, armed robbery and culpable homicide
punishable with death.
The confession the suspects allegedly provided to the police could be
used to build up evidence against them in court, the prosecutor said.
He also suggested that items stolen by the robbers from the affected
banks and other places would further aid in investigation, adding that
ballistic tests and forensic examination should be conducted.
But in a damning rebuke of the manner with which the police handled
the investigation, the prosecutor said the particulars of the crime
submitted against the suspects were contradictory.
“The weapons used in the attack were different from those allegedly
carted away from the police armory,” Mr Etsu said for instance.
In another case, “Michael Adikwu’s voluntary statement was not
attached to the file and should not be so,” the prosecutor said.
Curiously, the prosecutor said the police should ensure that the
suspects are available to face trial. This appears a subtle
acknowledgement of the raging controversy around some of the
suspects, especially Mr Adikwu who was alleged to have been killed in
custody.
Mr Adikwu was reportedly dismissed as a police corporal following his
arrest in 2012 on alleged criminal offences. He was charged to court in
Kwara State for compromising police operations and releasing armed
robbery suspects. He reportedly escaped from prisons in 2015 and
joined armed robbery gangs.
It was not immediately clear whether he was found guilty and
convicted by the court or whether he escaped from prison while still
in remand as his trial was underway. PREMIUM TIMES could not
immediately confirm whether he has a lawyer.
The police fiercely rejected claims that Mr Adikwu had been killed in
custody to hush details that could expose potential anti-Saraki
conspiracy within the police, but declined repeated demands to parade
him once again for Nigerians to know he is still alive.