Saraki vs Police: Kwara youths take sides, reveal what they’ll do

Kwara youths under the umbrella of the Youth Agitator Nationalist Forum yesterday kicked against the invitation of the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, by the Nigerian Police Force over the Offa bank robbery.

The Force Public Relations Officer, Moshood Jimoh , had in a statement at the weekend claimed that five principal suspects in the April 5 robberies made some allegations which indicted Saraki.
The National Assembly chairman was then asked to report to the Force Intelligence Response Team office to answer to the allegations levelled against him by the suspects. He was however later given 48 hours to respond to the allegation in writing rather than coming in person.

However, the protesting youths marched to the palace of the Olofa of Offa, Oba Mufutau Gbadamosi, in the Offa Local Government Area of Kwara State, demanding that the police not to politicise their investigation into the robbery.
They sang songs and displayed placards to express their agitation. Some of the writings on the placards read, ‘We can see the truth, ‘Saraki is the leader that reigns in Kwara State,’ ‘Offa robbery cannot be used to settle political scores,’ ‘Politics and robbery are not equal,’ ‘Offa people are not fools,’ and ‘There are lies in police action’.
The President of the Youth Agitator Nationalist Forum, Peter Kayode, said the group would mobilse no fewer than 5,000 youths to trek from Kwara State to Abuja to show their solidarity with Saraki.

He told reporters, “We do not want the Nigeria Police Force to use the Offa incident against our leader (Saraki ).
“We are using this protest to sound a note of warning that the police should correct their action.
“They must make sure that this issue is not politicised. They should leave our leader alone.
“We are youths and we have the capacity to trek to Abuja ; it is not just a verbal utterance. If this issue is not addressed, the youths of Kwara State will walk from Kwara to Abuja.
“We don’t want any revolution , but when we start our movement, there will be no going back.
“We are more than 5, 000; we have as members secondary school pupils and students in tertiary institutions that are Kwara State indigenes. We will walk to Abuja.”