Justice Haleemah Salman of the Kwara State High Court stated that the offences are punishable by death.

The incident, which occurred at five banks in Offa Local Government Area in 2018, left no fewer than 32 people dead, including nine police officers, two of whom were women.

The convicted individuals include Ayoade Akinnibosun, Azeez Salahudeen, Niyi Ogundiran, Ibikunle Ogunleye, and Adeola Abraham.

The sixth suspect, Michael Adikwu, a retired police officer, died in custody before the trial commenced.

Presiding over the case, Justice Haleemah Salman handed down the death sentence to the five suspects after a six-year trial that drew widespread attention.

The convicts faced a five-count charge, including conspiracy, culpable homicide, illegal possession of firearms, and armed robbery.

Delivering her judgment, which spanned over four hours, Justice Salman found the accused guilty of robbing and killing innocent citizens.

She sentenced them to death by hanging for their roles in the heinous crime.

Additionally, the court imposed a three-year prison sentence on the convicts for illegal possession of firearms, in line with Nigeria’s penal code.

In her ruling, Justice Salman remarked, “The convicts acted contrary to the law and allowed their connections with those in power at the time to lead them astray.”

The lead prosecution counsel, Barrister Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), expressed satisfaction with the verdict, commending the judge for her thoroughness despite the numerous distractions that prolonged the trial.

On the other hand, defence counsel Barrister Abdullah Jimba, who represented Mr. Mathias Emeribe, acknowledged that the judgment was expected.

He noted that his principal was already compiling the necessary documents for an appeal.

A video of the incident seen by SaharaReporters captured the moment some of the shop owners were mourning as they watched their property destroyed by the fire.

“This fire is too much. This is not caused by electricity. Maybe some people were cooking and the fire started from there because this fire is much,” one of the traders said in the video.

A source from the town on Tuesday morning said the fire was eventually quenched by personnel of the Federal Fire Service and Kwara State Fire Service.

The source added that no fewer than five shops were affected by the inferno.

“The authorities are still assessing the situation, but personally, I know at least five shops were affected. The worth of goods and property destroyed can’t be said now until the assessment ends. There are also several claims as to the cause of the fire until we wait for the fire service to release their statement on it,” the source said.

Meanwhile, barely eight months ago, there was a report about a midnight fire that razed a residential building in the town and destroyed property worth N6.5m.

The incident that occurred at about 1:05am at Kowope compound, Olorunkuse area, Offa, affected a two- bedroom flat and four shops.

In December, no fewer than 14 shops were reportedly razed by fire in two incidents that occurred in the Tanke area of Ilorin in Ilorin South Local Government Area of Kwara State.

At least, seven shops at Zion Overcomer, Opposite Duro Suleiman house, University Road, Tanke, were reportedly burnt while the second incident also occurred at Tanke Oke-Odo area on University Road at about 1.30 a.m.where another seven shops were destroyed by fire.