Just as the death toll keeps mounting with reported 30 dead and still counting with the dust of last Thursday’s dastardly bank robbery in Offa, Kwara State yet to settle, with more casualty being recorded across hospitals in an around the ancient town, the front-runner on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming governorship election in Osun State, ‘Kunle Rasheed Adegoke (K-Rad), has expressed condolences to the government of Kwara State, the Oloffa of Offa, the entire people of Offa and Kwara State and the families of the victims of the robbery that took so many lives in Offa.
A robbery incident which security experts and commentators have dubbed as the most violent in the history of Nigeria by the sheer casualty figure and the scale and sophistication of the attack has continued to generate national and global debate on what could have been if government and security arrangement at the state level has been strengthened .
In a release personally issued by the frontline aspirant from Mecca where he is currently observing the lesser hajj, Adegoke condemned the merchants of deaths and deprivations together with their dare-devilry, even as he prayed for the repose of the souls of the innocent victims of the unfortunate attacks.
“While I commiserate with the government of Kwara State, the Oloffa of Offa, the entire people of Offa and Kwara State in general and the distraught families of the victims of this heinous incident, I call on the government to step up in its sacred duty of protection of lives and property by setting up a security trust fund involving the participation of all stakeholders in Kwara State for the protection of lives and property.
“I also encourage localisation of banks in the same area in Offa and other towns for easy monitoring and protection by the police as this unfortunate incident has become quite rampant in recent times in Offa.” He advised.
Adegoke further justified the reasoning behind “setting up the security trust fund to include provision of arms and ammunition to the police and to assist in catering for the ill-motivated members of the force serving in the State.” He suggested further the need to “assist the families of the deceased victims and the injured as many bread winners and glories of tomorrow have been cut down in their primes.
“To avoid compounding the already exacerbated state of our social welfare in terms of vagrants that incidents like the recent killings beget, “it is fundamental to take care of the unlucky widows and orphans naturally begotten by this sad occurrence.”
He finally encouraged “the police apparatus at all levels to work assiduously to arrest and prosecute timeously the perpetrators of this dastardly act to serve as deterrent to others.” He concluded.
Meanwhile, many Nigerians have reacted after the unfortunate incidents, especially as it concerns post-incidents investigation and inaction at crime scenes.
In a written comment sighted by NewsClickng.com, Rasheed Adebiyi, who teach mass communication at Fountain University, Osogbo observed that: “In saner climes, I think the premises would have been cordoned. I expected to see uniformed and plain-clothed security men stationed around the spots, while forensic experts take inventory of the necessary things and gathering useful leads…
I expected people to be kept a few metres away from the very spots, to keep the features intact, for possible forensic leads…”
