Kwara police recover AK-47 rifles, 108,806 cartridges from thugs

The command disclosed that it had  recently intercepted a truck containing 108,806 live cartridges at Kosubosu in Baruten and a large cache of arms and two AK-47 rifles in Ilorin, the state capital.The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Salihu Garba, said the present high rate of political thuggery and hooliganism, if not curtailed, could lead to […]

The command disclosed that it had  recently intercepted a truck containing 108,806 live cartridges at Kosubosu in Baruten and a large cache of arms and two AK-47 rifles in Ilorin, the state capital.
The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Salihu Garba, said the present high rate of political thuggery and hooliganism, if not curtailed, could lead to a total breakdown of law and order in the state.
Addressing candidates of various political parties at a meeting, the CP also lamented the continued closure of courts due to the on-going strike by the Judicial Workers’ Union of Nigeria (JUSUN). The strike has stalled the prosecution of the thugs arrested, he said.
Sunday Trustreports that recent politically-motivated crises have claimed two lives; one in Ilorin and Ojoku, while many people have been injured even as suspected thugs vandalised billboards indiscriminately.
The violence was happening in spite of the peace accord signed by political parties and their governorship candidates to maintain peace before, during and after election.
The CP, in a strongly-worded speech, tagged, “Enough is Enough” lamented that the peace accord recently signed at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) only existed on paper, saying politicians were wilfully violating the contents of the accord.
He also accused politician, especially those of the two major political parties- Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC), of going about their campaign with thugs. He urged them to disengage the hooligans.
“These boys (thugs) going with APC are the ones going with PDP. I don’t think that is right for us to do and tolerate. In as much as we fund these boys (thugs), the trend will continue. We should send them to the unemployment market to find something to do,” he said.
According to him, “Intelligence gathered by the Kwara State Police Command so far reveals a great increase in the rate of political thuggery and hooliganism in the on-going electioneering period, resulting into various forms of attacks on political opponents, destruction of political opponents’ properties and posters as well as billboards and other allied offences associated with political violence which is alien to the state in the past as the state is known for its harmonious nature”.
Garba said some of those involved in acts of thuggery are from the state, while some are imported to unleash terror on innocent people. He warned that the police would not spare anyone arrested, no matter how highly placed.
Candidates and representatives of political parties in attendance were, however, made to make a declaration to maintain peace and also encourage their supporters to do same.
The State’s APC Chairman, Hon. Ishola Balogun-Fulani, urged the police to go ahead and prosecute anyone found culpable in acts of thuggery and hooliganism.
The governorship candidate of the Action Alliance (AA), Mrs. Felicia Ajibola, declared that the violence being perpetrated of recent was between APC and PDP, saying it is high time the security agencies took drastic measures to stop the perpetrators.