Don’t link me or Saraki with cultists, Kwara Governor warns Police
OrderPaperToday – The Governor of Kwara State, Abdulfatah Ahmed, has denied “false and misleading insinuations” linking him and the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, with suspected cultists arrested in Ilorin.
Recall that Saraki made an announcement during plenary yesterday, alerting his colleagues to the transfer of some cultists, arrested and remanded in his State, to Abuja. He said that the Kwara State Commissioner of Police received this order from the Inspector General of Police and warned that this could be for nefarious reasons.
In a statement released by the Governor’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Muyideen Akorede, the Governor declared that neither himself nor the Senate President (or any of their aides) have links with the suspected cultists or their activities.
He also denied being aware of any intention to harm any individual as the political leadership in the State has never used violence as a political tool.
Ahmed referred to the parade of the suspects by the State Commissioner of police, Mr. Aminu Pai Saleh on Thursday, May 10, 2018 in Ilorin, where it was announced that the suspects were arrested for alleged murder and for belonging to cult groups but made no mention of any confessional statement linking their activities to any sponsors.
He declared that the State government frowns at cultism because they see it “as a serious security issue requiring urgent attention.” For this reason, they amended the State Cultism Law in a bid to “prescribe stiffer penalties for convicts and those who aid and abet them, besides providing operational support to all security agencies in the state in their fight against all forms of criminalities, including cultism.”
Governor Ahmed warned that cultism is a serious security challenge that should not be trivialised, turned into a political tool or be treated with levity. He therefore urged well-meaning Nigerians to disregard any attempt to politicise the menace of cultism but to focus, instead, on joining hands with the government and security agencies to bring the menace to an end in the interest of public safety, while allowing the rule of law and justice to prevail in the matter.
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