*Police sources confirm death of armourer, killer of 22 victims
…suspect still alive – FPRO
Following the parade of gang leaders of the Offa banks robbery penultimate Sunday and Wednesday, by the Nigeria Police Force at its headquarters in Abuja, a principal suspect who played major roles in the dastardly act which took place on April, 5, was noticed missing.
Among the gang leaders paraded by Police Public Relations Officer, Jimoh Moshood and Commander of IRT,DCP Abba Kyari during the press conference at the police headquarters were; Ayoade Akinnibosun(aka AY), Ibikunle Ogunleye (otherwise known as Arrow), Adeola Abraham, Salawudeen Azeez and Niyi Ogundiran.
But missing among the suspects on the two occasions was a certain 30-year-old ex-corporal who supplied ammunitions and killed the largest number of victims (22) during the bloodletting robbery incident, Michael Adikwu. Aside providing the ammunition and training the suspects on how to handle weapons, Adikwu was said to have kept the loot from the banks robbery, telling his colleagues the money would be shared later to avoid any suspicion by security operatives.
The unavailability of the ex-corporal during the press briefing on Sunday and Wednesday has continued to generate curiosity among the public leading to some Nigerians asking the question; where is Michael Adikwu?
Findings by this medium revealed that, the principal suspect may have been killed while in detention.
A police source informed our reporter on Tuesday that Adikwu who played prominent role in what may be described as the deadliest robbery attack in the history of Nigeria was killed during interrogation by the police before last weekend’s press briefing.
The source added that the suspect was thoroughly tortured by the police for not ‘cooperating’ by volunteering certain information.
Similarly, another Police source, divulged to this medium that Adikwu, who was relocated to Abuja alongside other suspects for discreet investigation, was tortured to death.
Efforts by our reporter to get the reaction of the Force spokesperson, Jimoh Moshood, on the report proved abortive as he did not attend to his calls nor acknowledge the text message sent to his mobile phone Wednesday.
The text message sent to the Force spokesperson by our reporter read thus; “Good pm sir, it was discovered that one of the gang leaders of the Offa banks robbery, Michael Adikwu was not among those paraded at the NPF headquarters.
“Sir, how true is the story making the rounds that Adikwu gave up the ghost while in detention, from National Pilot Newspaper, Ilorin.”
However, when queried later that Wednesday by TheCable, if Adikwu was killed in custody, Moshood dismissed the speculation.
He said the suspect is in police custody but refused to disclose where he is being held.
“Michael Adikwu is in police custody. You know he is the one that led the killing of 22 people. So the fire arms that were carted away, he is helping the police in investigation to recover them,” he said.
When probed further by the medium why the Benue-born suspect was not paraded, the Force spokesperson replied thus; “Even the people we paraded last Sunday were 15 and they are 22 in number; some are in Ilorin, some are in other locations. There is a state in the south-west where they kept him…; that is where he is. I can’t mention the state. He is in one of the south-west states,” he said.
On why Adikwu’s name was missing on the list of suspects last Wednesday, he said,
the suspect’s name was not in the police statement “because he was not one of those we paraded.”
“It (Adikwu’s name) was not in the statement today but it was in the other one; the last one we did on Sunday. Only five people that we brought today are the only five people that their names were there. He is not among those people we paraded today (Wednesday).”
Reacting to reports that Adikwu may have been killed in custody, the police spokesman said “there is nothing like that”, and that the suspect will be paraded “soon.”
“Who killed him?” he asked, saying: “We will parade him soon, once they recover all the weapons.”
Adiwku who was attached to the Kwara State unit of the Special Anti-Robber Squad (SARS), was dismissed in 2012 after he was accused of complicity in an armed robbery case. The Benue-born ex-corporal was later charged to court and sent to prison where he spent three years.
The dismissed policeman was said to have confessed to the killing of nine policemen and 13 civilians because he had scores to settle with his former colleagues, adding that they took tramadol and other hard drugs to perpetrate the heinous act.
The April 5 robbery incident led to the death of nine policemen and 23 civilians, including pregnant women.
Police initially described Adikwu as “sectional gang leader” when he was declared wanted in connection with the robbery, and was accused of killing 22 persons, mostly at the Offa police station.
He was later arrested after still pictures from CCTV were released to the public.
