Attackers Of Ex LGA Chairman Arrested In Kwara

 Kwara State Police Command has paraded three suspected attackers of  former chairman of Offa local government council, Prince Saheed Popoola, in Ilorin.

The names of the male suspects paraded by the police are Lukman Ariwajoye, Musliyu Olarinoye and Kabiru Oluaye.

This is just as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in  Offa described the purported assassination attempt on the former council boss as an attempt to blackmail the party and its leaders with aim of soliciting sympathy from members of the public.

In a statement signed by the PDP chairman and secretary in Offa, Engineer Goke Rabiu and Alhaji Lasun Olarinoye, respectively, and made available to journalists in Ilorin on Thursday, the party implored security agencies in the state to carry out a thorough investigation on the matter to unravel the truth behind the alleged attack.

It will be recalled that military men, last weekend, were reported to have handed over some hoodlums that allegedly waylaid the ACN chieftain at a restaurant in the ancient city of Offa.

Popoola narrated that the hoodlums arrived the restaurant around 7p.m. on Friday, challenging anyone belonging to ACN to a fight, shooting sporadically into the air and brandishing other dangerous weapons like broken bottles.

Spokesperson of the police command, Olufemi Fabode, said a team of military men arrested the suspects on June 21, 2013 and handed them over to the police in Offa.

Mr. Fabode added that one of the suspects was in possession of one locally-made pistol, two live cartridges and charm.

 “The suspects and others at large were confirmed to have attacked the former council chairman who was relaxing at a cool spot in the ancient town. It was the dragging of the former chairman by the arrested suspects and others at large that drew the attention of the army personnel that were there.

“The alibi claimed by the suspects that they were drinking at the said cool spot was investigated and confirmed to be false. During the investigation, it was confirmed that the said suspects suddenly came to the cool spot and ordered the former chairman to stand up against his will.

“Intensive investigation carried out revealed that the suspects actually ordered the former chairman to stand up and he was dragged on the ground before the soldiers came to his rescue”, he said.