Offa bank robbery : Absence of witness stalls trial

The absence of prosecution witnesses in court has stalled the continuation of hearing in Offa bank robbery trial in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital. Prosecution counsel Bola Gold told the court that police officers who are the prosecution witnesses in the matter were on national assignment for last Saturday’s rerun elections in some parts of the country and had not returned to their base.

In view of this, he sought an adjournment, which the defence counsel, Mathias Emeribe, did not oppose. In granting the adjournment, trial judge Justice Haleema Salman warned both the defence and prosecuting counsels against unnecessary delays in the hearing on the matter. She expressed dissatisfaction that no appreciable progress had been made in the hearing of the case since 2018 when it started due to requests for adjournments by the counsels. The judge said that both counsels should be prepared to end the trial within a trial in the next adjourned date so that hearing proper in the suit could commence the same day. She subsequently adjourned the case to February 10. Speaking with reporters after court proceedings, counsel to both parties assured of their preparedness to ensure speedy disposal of the matter. All of the accused – Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibikunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Salahudeen Azeez and Niyi Ogundiran – were present in court.

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