Kwara govt accuses PDP of trivialising 2018 Offa robbery, defends AbdulRazaq’s record

The Kwara State Government has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of attempting to downplay the tragic 2018 Offa bank robbery while seeking to whitewash what it described as the “bloody legacy” of the party’s 16-year rule in the state.

In a statement issued on Friday, Bashir Adigun, Special Adviser on Media to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, faulted comments by PDP spokesman, Olusegun Adewara, whom he accused of defending former Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

According to the government, the robbery, which claimed dozens of lives including policemen, women, and children, was a national tragedy that remained fresh in the memories of Kwarans. It also alleged that vehicles linked to the crime had ties to Saraki and claimed suspects had openly confessed to associating with PDP chieftains.

“The Offa robbery was not just ‘a single bank robbery,’ as the PDP arrogantly described it. It was a blood-soaked tragedy that exposed the rot and culture of violence entrenched under their watch,” the statement read.

The government further cited past confessions, including remarks attributed to PDP leader, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, on the alleged importation of armed mercenaries in 2015, as proof of the party’s complicity in political thuggery and insecurity.

It maintained that Kwara under the PDP had been plagued by cultism, gangsterism, and political violence until the 2019 elections, which, according to him, “freed the state from a Pharaoh-like grip.”

While acknowledging the wider nationwide challenge of insecurity, the government insisted that the foundation of “bloodletting and impunity” was laid during the PDP era.

“The PDP should cover its face in shame instead of attacking a Governor who, within six years, has rebuilt schools, upgraded hospitals, opened rural roads, empowered women and youths, and restored dignity to Kwarans,” Adigun said.

He urged the opposition to respect the memory of the victims of the Offa robbery, adding that Kwara would never return to what he described as “the dark era of PDP oppression.”