SENATE President, Bukola Saraki, has demanded a public inquiry into the death of Michael Adikwu, the suspected mastermind of the robbery incident which took place in Offa, Kwara State, in April this year.

The Kwara State Commissioner of Justice, Kamaldeen Ajibade, had told the court, during the arraignment of five suspects that took part in the robbery, that Adikwu died in police custody. The revelation came after the police had consistently said that the suspect is alive and was merely transferred to a different detention facility.

Recall that the Offa robbery suspects had named Saraki and the Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, as their benefactors. In fact, one of the cars that were used for the robbery was said to have been given to one of the suspects as a gift by the governor.

The police also alleged that some of the armed robbers were part of Saraki’s entourage when he visited the traditional ruler of Offa community a day after the robbery incident to commiserate with him on the loss of some residents of the community who died during the robbery incident

Both Saraki and Ahmed denied the allegations.

In a statement issued on his behalf by his media aide Yusuf Olaniyonu, Saraki noted that the reported death of the prime suspect in the robbery incident, smarks of an attempt to cover up the real perpetrators of the crime.

Saraki pointed out that the police have been inconsistent in the various reports and statements it has issued with respect to the whereabouts of Adikwu who, himself, was a dismissed operative of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigerian police.

The statement read in part: “It should be recalled that when we mentioned it that the principal suspect had been murdered and that investigation into the Offa robbery attack was politically motivated and targeted at implicating me and other individuals, the police public relations officer, Moshood Jimoh said: ‘Michael Adikwu is in police custody’.

“The fresh facts have now thrown more light into why there had been inconsistencies in the various statements by the police. The police initially told the attorney-general of Kwara state that the principal suspect was alive and they only later reluctantly disclosed that he died in the course of arrest.

“How can a suspect confirmed to be in custody now be said to have died in the course of arrest? This contradiction shows a deliberate attempt to cover up something.

“It is obvious that the police have orchestrated the information they give to the public on the Offa robbery only to tarnish the image of the Kwara state governor and myself.

“We are calling for a public inquiry to probe the issues of extra-judicial killing, the cover-up of this killing with the aim of framing up some individuals for political purpose and politicising of criminal investigations. The facts need to be laid bare.”

Saraki said that the inquiry would provide answers to the many puzzles surrounding the Offa robbery incident and the people behind it, as well as “define the terms of handling of suspects in police custody and how to prevent extra-judicial killing of suspects”.