Offa bank robbery: Saraki slams Kwara over dropped charges

Former Senate President Bukola Saraki has slammed the Kwara State Government for dropping 18 charges against him over the 2018 Offa bank robbery, describing the move as an admission that the accusations were politically motivated.

The reaction came after the state government withdrew the charges, which had been filed against Saraki and former Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, ValidViewNetwork reports.

THE DROPPED CHARGES

The Kwara State Government had filed charges against Saraki and Ahmed in April 2026, accusing them of conspiracy to belong to a gang of thieves and other offences related to the Offa robbery.

The charges were based on allegations that Saraki and Ahmed had sponsored the armed robbers who attacked banks and a police station in Offa in April 2018, killing at least 33 people.

Saraki consistently denied the allegations, pointing to legal advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions in 2018 that found no evidence linking him to the crime.

The government has now dropped 18 of the charges, leaving only the conspiracy counts.

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SARAKI’S REACTION

Saraki did not mince words. “This is an admission of guilt. They knew from the beginning that there was no case. They accused me to settle political scores, and now they have been exposed,” he said.

He argued that the withdrawal of the charges vindicated his long-standing position that the allegations were fabricated to damage his political career.

“For years, they used the blood of the victims of the Offa robbery to pursue their political agenda. They lied to the people of Kwara. They lied to Nigerians. And now, they have been forced to drop the charges because they have no evidence,” he said.

THE CONTEXT

The Offa robbery was one of the deadliest armed robberies in Nigeria’s history. The attackers targeted multiple banks and a police station, killing 33 people, including nine police officers.

The incident was immediately politicised, with Saraki accused of complicity.

The accusations were widely seen as part of the political war between Saraki and the APC-led state government.In a separate development, politicians in Offa had recently confessed that they linked Saraki to the robbery to settle political scores, admitting that they wove lies against him during the “O to ge” movement that removed him from power.

THE ANALYTICAL LENS

The collapse of the Offa robbery case is a damning indictment of Nigeria’s justice system.

For years, Saraki was accused of sponsoring one of the deadliest robberies in the country’s history. The accusations were repeated in the media, used to damage his reputation, and made the basis of criminal charges.

Now, the charges have been dropped. The government has not explained why. And Saraki is demanding an apology.

The question is not whether Saraki is innocent. The question is why it took so long for the charges to be dropped.

The answer is simple: the case was never about justice. It was about politics.

The victims of the Offa robbery deserve justice. Their families deserve answers. And Saraki deserves an apology. But in Nigeria, justice is often the first casualty of political warfare. ValidViewNetwork reports.