Appeal Court Affirms Death Sentence for Offa Bank Robbery Convicts
The Court of Appeal sitting in Ilorin, Kwara State, has upheld the death sentence handed down to five men convicted for the bloody 2018 armed robbery operation in Offa that left 33 people dead.
In a ruling delivered on Friday, a three-member panel of the appellate court unanimously dismissed the appeal filed by the convicts, affirming the September 2024 judgment of the Kwara State High Court which had sentenced them to death by hanging.
The court rejected all grounds of appeal, declaring that the lower court’s verdict was consistent with the weight of evidence presented.
The five men: Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibikunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Salahudeen Azeez, and Niyi Ogundiran, were ordered to be returned to prison to await the execution of their sentence.
They were originally found guilty by Justice Haleema Salman of the Kwara State High Court on charges of illegal possession of firearms, armed robbery, and culpable homicide.
The ruling brings a measure of judicial closure to one of the most traumatic criminal events in recent Nigerian history. On April 5, 2018, the gang launched a coordinated and brutal attack on the town of Offa.
They raided five commercial banks and attacked the divisional police headquarters, unleashing a hail of bullets that killed 33 people, including nine police officers and a pregnant woman.
During the initial trial, the ringleader, Ayoade Akinnibosun, confessed to the court that the robbery was masterminded by the late Michael Adikwu, a dismissed police officer who died in custody during the investigation.
Akinnibosun detailed how he recruited the other accomplices and provided the two vehicles used for the operation. In a chilling testimony, he admitted to personally shooting two people dead at the entrance of the police station as they attempted to flee the chaos.
The appellate court’s decision reinforces the judiciary’s stance on the severity of the crime, which shook the nation and sparked widespread outrage over the state of internal security.
