Kwara police dispel ritualists tag

KWARA State police command has dispelled a widespread rumour about the involvement of some policemen in ritual activities in the state.

Speaking with journalists in Ilorin on Wednesday, the state Commissioner of police, Lawan Ado, said the rumour, which started over the weekend, had continued to spread despite initial efforts by the command to curtail it.

“We feel it is worrisome because people have been calling us from across the world over the issue”, he said, adding that the authorities of the command had commenced an investigation into the matter at the Adewole Division where the supposed ritual transaction was alleged to have taken place.

The rumour had it that policemen in Adewole Division, an elite are of the metropolis, usually arrest people for late hour movement from 8.00pm and then take them to ritualists for as much as N80,000 per head.

The rumour also said that some of the culprits had been arrested after a face-off with military men whose personnel had been mistakenly arrested by the ritual merchants.

However, the police commissioner said that there was no arrest of any military personnel, and neither was there any brawl between the police and military men as alleged, pointing out that the only record of interaction between the police and the military around the time in question in the area was when a military officer came to report a case of breach of trust.

Ado, who condemned the development, said, “on our part, we are putting a lot of searchlight on the division and its personnel and we will not hide anything but so far we have not found anything. We are doing our very best in this state and we will investigate any allegation brought to us so we want to call on all residents with any information to come forward to us. Anyone who has someone who has been arrested or missing around that time or that is arrested should come to us.

“We want to debunk the rumour as pure mischief and falsehood because we have done a proper investigation and found nothing of such and we don’t want it to continue trending on the social media.”

The text of the rumour made available to journalists alleged that:” E be like say we need to be careful in Ilorin. Policemen of Adewole Division are now agents of ritualists. They arrest people for late hour movement as from 8 pm and take them to the ritualists for N80k per head. Some of them have been arrested. Let us pray for justice to reign. Please spread this information until it gets to d appropriate quarters. The state of harmony seems not to be anymore.”