I Have No Link With Offa Armed Robbery Suspects, Saraki Denies Allegation ...Alleges it's IG plot to link him to robbery

The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki on Sunday denied any link with the armed robbers that attacked banks and a police station in Offa, Kwara State, saying the plot to link him with the armed robbery suspects was concocted by the Inspector General of Police (IG), Mr. Ibrahim Idris, to embarrass him.

Saraki, who reacted to a press conference addressed by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Moshood Jimoh, linking him to the Offa robbery, urged the public to disregard this claim as a baseless allegation and another ploy by the police to implicate him by all means.

In a statement by his Special Adviser (Media and Publicity), Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu, the Senate President recalled that on May 16, 2018, he had alerted the Senate about the information passed on to him by his State Governor, Dr. Abdulfatai Ahmed, over a plot by Idris, to frame me up.

According to Saraki, the Inspector General of Police had planned to get some suspected cultists arrested in Ilorin to implicate him.

Saraki argued that the timely leakage of the plot in that case aborted the use of the suspected cultists to implicate him, adding that it is the Offa bank robbery suspects that are about to be used.

“Let it be known that there is no way I could have been associated with armed robbery against my people. When the Offa robbery incident happened, I was the first top public official to pay a visit to the place and right there in the palace of the traditional ruler, I put a call through to this same Mr. Ibrahim Idris, the IGP, requesting him to make certain specific security arrangements as demanded by the people,” he said.

 “This plot is concocted to embarrass me and, in the mind of the IGP, it is his own response after his refusal to honour the invitation by the National Assembly, headed me, for him to come and offer explanations on the rampant killings and violence across the country. Like the earlier one, this frame-up will also fail as I hereby state categorically that I have no link with any band of criminals,” Saraki added. 

The Senate President added that as a person who has utmost respect for the rule of law and all constitutional institutions, he will honour the police invitation when it is formally extended to him.

“It is however sad that this abuse of the criminal investigation process aimed at intimidating and over-overawing the legislature, thereby obstructing it from doing its work, is a big threat to our democracy,” he added.