Don’t relocate Police PR school, Ilorin, Emirate urges police authority

PEOPLE of Ilorin emirate, under the aegis of the apex socio-cultural organisation in the city, the Ilorin Emirate Descendants’ Progressive Union (IEDPU), have appealed to the Nigeria Police authority not to relocate the Police Public Relations school from Kwara State to another state.

In a statement signed by the acting national president of the IEDPU, Alhaji Yahaya Ahmed, and made available to journalists in Ilorin on Sunday, the union described the purported plan as unacceptable and unjustifiable.

It also advised the Police High Command to drop the idea, if it had given it a thought, because of the danger they said it portends to co-existence, nation-building and constitutionalism.

The union, which said that the school, the foundation of which was laid earlier in the year, was well-sited in Ilorin, added that the city is very much suitable to host such a training institution, considering her location in the centre of the nation, and accessible from all parts of the country.

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Alhaji Ahmed posited that the fact that the project had been captured and approved along with others in the 2018 budget signed by President Muhammadu Buhari, the issue is a constitutional one, and the introduction of any alteration would amount to legal infringement.

The union said that if the relocation is effected, it will not only be a slap on the face of the people of Kwara State but it will also send a dangerous signal that what the state experienced years past when many of the Federal Government establishments in the state were either removed or needlessly downgraded to punish the people for no justifiable reasons, is back.

Alhaji Ahmed said that it was painful and incredible that a police administration led by an indigene of Niger State sited an institution in Kwara State only for his immediate successor to be working round the clock to relocate the institution to his home state, adding that it is only in an atmosphere of lawlessness that such a situation could be contemplated.

The statement called on well-meaning Nigerians to join her in appealing to President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Assembly to prevail on the Police authority with a view to ensuring that the school remains in Ilorin as originally intended in the interest of justice, fair-play and equality of the Nigerian People.

The Union expressed disappointment with the alleged insistence of the power that is to ensure the relocation of the School in spite of the series of efforts made by well-meaning Nigerians to let them see reasons why it should remain in Ilorin.

“The question on the lips of our people is that why must it be so considering their unalloyed loyalty and sincere support extended to the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari by the good people of Kwara State as reflected in the outcome of the 2019 elections,” Alhaji Yahaya added.

The statement hinted that the Union would not hesitate to pursue the rights and privileges of her people to host the facility using other constitutional means, if need be, as doing otherwise will be a serious disservice to the community and to the unity of the Nigerian nation.