Residents Urge IG to Fish Out Killers of Two Teenagers in Kwara Community

Hammed Shittu

Residents of Lajolo community in Ilorin East Local Government Area Kwara State have accused the police of extra-judicially killing of two teenagers while carrying out an operation in the community.

The residents, however, appealed to the Inspector General of Police (IG) to set up an independent panel of inquiry into the dastardly act to unravel the killers of the teenagers.

The residents of the town last Saturday woke up to the invasion of the men of the Special Tactical Squad (STS) from the Nigeria Police Force, Abuja, who they alleged started shooting sporadically in the community leading to the death of innocent residents of the community.

The operatives of the STS of the Nigeria Police Force were said to be in the community to arrest some cultists that went on rampage at the Kwara State University, Malete last Friday.

The victims, Jamiu Fatai and Shaobana Abdulrasheed, both 18 years old, were indigenes of Lajolo community, a student populated area because of its proximity to the Kwara State Polytechnic.

However, speaking in Ilorin yesterday on the development, the Mogaji of Lajolo, Alhaji Isa Alao, said different security outfits in the guise of fighting crimes are always visiting the community at to make arrests and release the suspects who are mostly students after allegedly paying different sums of money.

The community head said while the community is not against fighting crime, such should be done in line with global best practices, and also guided by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The Mogaji, wondered why the security agencies found it difficult to inform the community head when such operations would be carried out knowing that traditional and community heads know the details of virtually every resident of their various communities.

He said the victims that were killed on Saturday, Jamiu Fatai and Shaobana Abdulrasheed, were indigenes of Lajolo community and not students of Kwara Polytechnic or cultists as being reported by some national dailies.

He, however, called on the state Governor Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, and the IG, Alkali Baba, to get to the root of the matter.
Meanwhile, the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has charged the state governor to wake up to his responsibility of protecting lives and property of the people of the state.

The party made the call in a statement issued by its state Publicity Secretary, Tunde Ashaolu, in the wake of recent security challenges facing the state, especially kidnappings and scourge of cultism, across various educational institutions in the state.

According to PDP, criminal elements, including kidnappers, armed robbers, ritual killers and cultists, now operate unhindered in different parts of the state, causing untold havoc and destroying lives.

It noted that security of lives and property remains one critical responsibility of a government, “but it is unfortunate and painful that innocent Kwarans are daily becoming victims of the failure of the government in this regard.”

At present, palpable tension has continued to grip residents of Lajolo in view of the deployment of men of the anti-riot police to the community.