The Court of Appeal in Ilorin, Kwara State, on Friday upheld the death sentences imposed on five men convicted over the 2018 Offa bank robbery, dismissing their appeals for lack of merit.
The Director of Public Prosecution in Kwara State, Mohammed Akande, told journalists that the appellate court unanimously affirmed the judgment of the Kwara State High Court, which sentenced the convicts to death by hanging.
According to Akande, the panel—comprising Justices Ridwan Maiwada Abdullahi, Gabriel Kolawole and Abdul Dogo—upheld the verdict delivered by Justice Haleemah Saleeman, who found the appellants guilty of their roles in the robbery.
The five convicts are Niyi Ogundiran, Salawu Azeez, Ibikunle Ogunleye, Ayoade Akinnibosun and Adeola Abraham.
A court official said the appellate court dismissed all grounds of appeal filed by the convicts and ordered their immediate return to prison custody.
“The court rejected all their arguments and affirmed their convictions. They have been taken back to prison,” the official said.
Although the convicts retain the right to appeal to the Supreme Court, the official said the arguments raised at the Court of Appeal were unconvincing and were unlikely to succeed if repeated at the apex court.
The five men were convicted of armed robbery, illegal possession of firearms and culpable homicide. A sixth suspect, Michael Adikwu, a retired police officer, died in custody before the commencement of the trial.
The convictions arose from the coordinated bank robbery carried out in April 2018 in Offa Local Government Area of Kwara State, during which five commercial banks were attacked.
At least 32 people were killed in the attacks, including nine police officers, two of whom were women, making it one of the deadliest bank robberies in Nigeria’s history.
Justice Saleeman had earlier sentenced the convicts to death by hanging after a trial that lasted about six years and drew nationwide attention. In her judgment, which lasted more than four hours, she held that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
In addition to the death sentence, the trial court sentenced the convicts to three years’ imprisonment for illegal possession of firearms, in line with Nigeria’s penal laws.
