Ajayi Okasanmi, PPRO Kwara Command
Following plans by members of the indigenous traditional religion to hold Isese festival in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital on 20th August 2023, the Kwara State Police Command has urged the worshipers to relocate the event to other areas of the country.
“The security situation in the state is not favourable for such celebration”, according to a statement issued on Monday evening by the command’s spokesman, SP Ajayi Okasanmi, ROYAL NEWS has gathered.
It would be recalled that no fewer than three persons were killed during the last isese festival held at the popular ‘Osun-Osogbo’ few days ago in Osun State while rancour and mass destruction of property was witnessed during the last Egungun festival held in Ibadan, Oyo State.
However, SP Okasanmi said that the Command has met with the worshipers and had advised them to find a suitable place in another state in the country for the celebration.
According to him, “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 favor 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 favorable security situation in the state.”
The Command said that it has planned to implement a new strategy to ensure harmonious living among the people and put criminal activities at bay in all areas of the state adding that a 24-hour stop and search would be conducted by the Police on people and vehicles in the state.
“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, CP. 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,” the statement said.
