Kwara PDP Accuses Police Of Being Tool Of Ruling Party, Alleges Plans To Clampdown On Opposition

Kwara state PDP on Wednesday accused the state police command of being a tool of the ruling party, the APC , while accusing the party of planning a clampdown on opposition.

The leading opposition party added that the state police command seems to have deviated from the core duty of safeguarding lives and property to becoming a tool for suppressing dissenting voices on behalf of the current administration in the state.

Kwara state PDP in a statement made available to Team@orientactualmags.com  by its Publicity Secretary, Hon Olusegun Olusola Adewara  described the alleged clampdown on critics of the government as unwarranted and a threat to democracy, noting that it will be counterproductive for Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq to think that getting people arrested will stop Kwarans from talking about the flyover construction project in Tanke.

While calling for unconditional  release of Alhaji Abdulganiyu Babaimole, Solihu Onirakunmi and others ,who , the party noted, have been kept in custody, the statement also accused the state police command of  protecting members of the ruling APC.

 ‘We express our deep concern over the recent arrest and detention of an Islamic cleric, Alhaji Abdulganiyu Babaimole since Friday evening, when the police were aware of the public holiday on Monday and Tuesday. We are particularly disturbed by the forceful manner in which he was taken away during Friday evening prayers at a mosque in the Pakata area of Ilorin by armed men from the surveillance unit of the Kwara state  Police command , A-Division command.  

We also have our intelligence that Alhaji Babaimole is being threatened to falsely implicate our State Publicity Secretary, Comrade Olusegun Olusola Adewara (Sholyments), in a bid to make a false confessional statement and fabricate charges against him. This show of impunity by the police is an indication that the Kwara state police command is assisting the government in plunging the state into a theatre of political crisis.

To make matters worse, we were informed of an ongoing wave of arrests targeting opposition figures and government critics across the Ilorin metropolitan areas. Police are reportedly storming homes to effect arrests on behalf of the Kwara state government. We have been informed of the recent arrests of Comrade Solihu Onirakunmi and Comrade Jimoh Olamilekan Waheed on baseless charges  that have do with  criticizing the  government . This blatant disregard for democratic principles and the suppression of freedom of speech is unacceptable.

It is disheartening to observe that, the Kwara Police Commissioner, instead of prioritizing the apprehension of real criminals and bandits terrorizing our people across the state, they are assisting the government in clamping down on law-abiding citizens who are merely expressing their displeasure over the failures of the Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq administration. 

We remember the murder of our brother and friend, Comrade Yusuf Mubarak Authority, who was killed in cold blood by unknown assailants in September. Also, a few days back, Kwarans were shocked to learn of the assassination of Dr. David Adefikayo, the Medical Director of Dafikayo Clinic in Kanbi community, Moro local government . We ask the police commissioner if he has exerted similar energy on the perpetrators of these dastard acts since their occurrences, we believe if the Police had exerted the same quantum of energy to go after those criminals, Kwara would today be a safe place.

Furthermore, we express our disappointment in the Kwara State Commissioner of Police for seemingly protecting members of the ruling party, despite formal petitions lodged against them. Ignoring these complaints with flimsy excuses which has undermined the credibility of law enforcement in Kwara.

While calling for the immediate and unconditional  release of Alhaji Abdulganiyu Babaimole, Solihu Onirakunmi, and others who are unlawfully detained with impunity, we urgently call on the Inspector General of Police to intervene and call the compromised Commissioner of Police in Kwara to order to avoid plunging the state into political crisis’ the statement said-Team@orientactualmags.com Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08059100286, 09094171980. Thank you