Date: 2023-08-15

The Kwara State Police Command, on Monday, advised the leadership of traditioner worshipers in the state not to carry out their planned festival in Ilorin, the state capital.

The Command said the intelligence available to it does not favour the kind of celebrations being planned by the religious sect in the state.

The police spokesman in the state, Okasanmi Ajayi, stated this in a statement, saying that the traditional worshippers have been advised to relocate their celebration to another state pending a favourable security situation in the state.

Consequently, Ajayi disclosed that the command has emplaced new security plans across the length and breadth of the state to ensure the security of lives and property.

“One of the strategies to put crime and criminality at bay in the state is Harmony Security Week. This operation will include aggressive stop and search, motorised, and foot patrols on a 24-hour basis.

“In continuation of the Kwara State Police Command’s onerous effort to ensure a safe and secure State for the good people of Kwara, the Commissioner of Police Kwara State Command, Ebunoluwarotimi Adelesi psc+, FISN held a meeting with Service Commanders, comprising heads of all security agencies in the state, where the security situation of the state was discussed and existing strategies dissected, where every t was crossed and all the ‘i’ was dotted.

“New security plans have been implemented across the length and breadth of Kwara State. One of the strategies to put crime and criminality at bay in the state is ‘Harmony Security Week. This operation will include aggressive stop and search, motorized, and foot patrols on a 24-hour basis.

“To this end, the CP is using this medium to put the good people of Kwara State on notice of the special security operation and advise the people not to panic or be apprehensive when confronted with the policemen on the assignment but to comport themselves and submit themselves for body and vehicular searches whenever they are asked to do so. The officers deployed for the assignment have been trained and warned to respect the rights of the citizens in the process of carrying out their duties.

“The Command warns would-be lawbreakers in whatever guise and nomenclature to steer clear of Kwara State, as anyone found in any manner constituting himself or herself a security threat would be arrested and prosecuted.

“Vigilante, local hunters, community policing members, and the leadership of the traditional worshippers in Kwara, along with some of their leaders from adjoining states, have also been dialogued with and made to understand that the intelligence available to the Police Command does not favour the kind of celebrations being planned by one of the religious sects in the state; they have been advised to relocate their celebration to another state pending a favourable security situation in the state,” the police spokesman stated.