Former Senate President Bukola Saraki has accused the Kwara State Government of abusing the judicial process after it dropped 18 armed robbery-related charges against him and former Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed in connection with the 2018 Offa bank robbery.
In a statement issued on Monday by Yusuph Olaniyonu of the Abubakar Bukola Saraki Media Office, Saraki described the withdrawal as an admission that the allegations against the two former governors were false. He insisted that the remaining amended charges would also fail in court.
According to the statement, the state government dropped 18 of the original 20 counts. These included allegations of armed robbery, causing the deaths of police officers, and illegal possession of firearms.
The government retained two charges accusing Saraki and Ahmed of conspiring to belong to a gang of thieves and actually belonging to such a gang. It also included allegations relating to concealing or causing the disappearance of a vehicle allegedly used for illegal purposes.
The media office noted that the government had earlier attempted to arraign the former governors on the full set of charges before amending the case. One of the original counts alleged that Saraki, Ahmed and others conspired to commit armed robbery at branches of Guarantee Trust Bank, First Bank, Ecobank and Union Bank in Offa on April 5, 2018.
Another alleged that they robbed Zenith Bank’s Offa branch while armed with guns and explosives.Reacting to the development, the statement said: “Both charges and 16 others with such ridiculous claims were dropped obviously because the government saw through the futility of the attempts to rope in Saraki and Ahmed and the fact that the charges lack any credible or factual basis.”
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