15082018 - FIRST LADY OTHERS SHINE AT VANGUARD AWARDS

OFFA’S DAY OF HORROR
It is unthinkable that, at 72, I
am burying my daughter
– Oyeyemi, father of policewoman killed in bank robbery
BY DEMOLA AKINYEMI,
Ilorin
Offa, Kwara State is not
new to bank robbery. On
December 23, 2013, some
armed robbers, in a commando style,
attacked a bank in the town and killed
two members of staff, about five police
officers and some residents.
In a similar fashion, armed robbers,
numbering over 30, in a coordinated
attack, penultimate Thursday, stormed
Offa.
Over N50million was said to have
been carted away from five banks by
the robbers.
On arrival in the town, the
hoodlums, according to reports,
divided themselves into groups and
simultaneously attacked the banks and
nearby police station, causing the
banks’ customers and residents to run
helter-skelter.
Police confirmed 17 people,
including nine policemen, dead
although early reports put casualty
figure around 30.
Sympathisers from far and near have
been visiting Offa to commiserate with
the people.
‘We will get them’
Meanwhile, the federal government
has vowed to arrest the fleeing robbers
while Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed
announced N5million offer for
information that could lead to the
arrest of the bandits.
The senator representing Kwara
South, Alhaji Rafiu Ibrahim, described
the incident as very unfortunate and
assured the residents of his resolve to
provide logistics that would aid
security in Offa.
The state police commissioner, Mr
Lawan Ado, on Saturday, said seven
suspects had been arrested in
connection with the robbery.
“ Seven suspects have been arrested,
one at Igosun Road and six others at
different locations in Offa, they are
helping us in our investigation”, Ado
told journalists.
“17 persons, comprising of nine
policemen/women and eight
residents, were killed within the police
station and the street/banks.
“Five banks, Union, Eco, Gtb, First,
Zenith, and one microfinance bank
were attacked.
“As callous and as unfortunate as the
attack was, casualty
figure was 17 and not 30
as erroneously reported
by some media
platforms”.
He added, “The
Inspector General of
Police has ordered full
investigation and has
directed his Intelligence
Response Team and
others to assist in getting
all the hoodlums
arrested”
Senate
President
It is unthinkable
that I am burying
my daughter with
deep mourning
when she should
be the one
burying me at old
age with fanfare
•Grace Makinde
Bukola Saraki, who paid a condolence
visit to Offa, also on Saturday, called
for the overhaul of the nation’s
infrastructure in order to
solve the problem of
insecurity in
Nigeria.
The federal government
also registered its
condolence as Minister of
Information, Alhaji Lai
Mohammed, visited.
Mohammed visited
Governor Ahmed, Offa, the
state police commissioner,
Ado, and victims receiving
treatment at the University
of Ilorin Teaching Hospital,
General Hospital, Ilorin and General
Hospital, Offa.
Siblings
as survivors
Speaking with Sunday Vanguard at
the General Hospital, Ilorin, one of the
survivors, Orelope Orilonise, narrated
how a bullet from the robbers hit his
brother, Salawu, right in his presence.
He said he and his sibling were
lucky to be alive.
According to him, they were on an
outing and passing through Owode
area of Offa when the robbers attacked
by firing indiscriminately and
pandemonium ensued, forcing
passersby to run for their lives.
“We too ran and it was in the process
SUNDAY VANGUARD, APRIL 15, 2018, PAGE 25
that a bullet hit my brother and he fell.
When I saw him in the pool of his own
blood, I burst into tears because I
thought he was dead. But thank God
he is alive though with serious
injuries”.
He however expressed fear of
another attack since there had been
similar attacks in Offa in the past.
“This is the fourth time such a
robbery incident will happen in Offa
which really shows that we are not
secure. What shocked many was that
the robbery incident was on for over
two hours without intervention from
security forces”.
Bullet pierces groin
Another victim, Waidi Olorunlambe,
48, and a taxi driver, said he was
discharging a passenger in front of
First Bank at Sanni Abba area when a
bullet hit him.
The bullet went through his right
thigh and came out of his groin around
his genital region, damaging this part
of the body. But he is alive to tell the
story.
Also injured in the attack is Wasiu
Azeez, a staff in the palace of the
Olofa of Offa, Oba Mufutau
Gbadamosi.
On that fateful day, Wasiu had gone
to GT Bank to withdraw money from
the ATM.
After withdrawing money and he
was about returning to the palace, he
heard indiscriminate gun shots .
He was smart enough to quickly
jump inside a nearby gutter and hid
from flying bullets.
After some time, when the shootings
had stopped, he thought the armed
robbers had gone and came out of the
gutter.
Just then the shootings resumed and
he was badly hit in the neck.
Wasiu reportedly fell down and was
writhing in the pool of his own blood
before good Samaritans came to his
rescue after the armed bandits had
gone.
The palace aide is among the seven
victims transferred by the state
government from a private clinic in
Offa to the General Hospital, Ilorin for
proper medical attention.
His father, Alhaji Suraju Azeez, was
also at the Zenith Bank to pick his
wife, a staff of the bank home, when
the robbers struck but they escaped
unscathed.
He told Sunday Vanguard that he
was at home relieving the experience
to other members of the family when
he received a call from the palace that
his son had been shot during the
robbery and was lying critically ill in
hospital.
But James Oyeyemi, the father of
Police Inspector Grace Makinde, who
died after she was shot when the
robbers stormed the Owode police
station, was mourning when Sunday
Vanguard spoke to him on phone after
burying his daughter on Wednesday..
“I retired as police inspector in 1998
and I am almost 72 years. I am from
Irepodun Local Government Area of
Kwara State. It is unthinkable that I
am burying my daughter with deep
mourning when she should be the one
burying me at old age with fanfare”,
Oyeyemi said.
“I am so sad. It is not good to talk about
the security situation in Nigeria because
it is too bad. If there was adequate security,
how will armed robbers come to a police
station and attack policemen?”
At press time, one of the three Armoured
Personnel Carriers requested for by the
people of Offa to solve the security
challenge in the town has arrived, while
the entire place is now under serious
security watch.