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Afenifere Renewal Group [ARG] has warned the Nigeria Police against allowing the Force to be used as an agent of oppression instead of being an agent of the country’s constitution.
The group issued the warning through a press statement released in reaction to the police invasion of the house of Sheik Abdulraheem Aduranigba the Chief Imam of the Yoruba community in Ilorin.
According to the statement signed by ARG publicity secretary, Kunle Famoriyo, police officers visited the Chief Imam’s house at odd hours on May 8 seeking to arrest him without any warrant, an attempt that was stanchly rebuffed and has forced the Chief Imam to take certain measures for his personal safety.
ARG said the police was being used to fight the Chief Imam who several days ago condemned the anti-democratic practices of the Ilorin Emirate and Kwara State Government against the Yoruba people of the state.
“We are aware that the Chief Imam Yoruba, Sheik Aduranigba, has a case in court against the police, which at the last appearance on 23rd March was adjourned till 16th May. He has never failed to appear in court, therefore, there is nothing that should have warranted the latest attempt to arrest him,” the statement said.
“It is shameful that the Nigeria police always dance to the tune of those in authorities even when such tunes are unconstitutional. We note that the Police Command in Kwara has surrendered itself as a tool of oppression while looking away from its constitutional duty,” the statement said, citing a murder case that happened in Jebba which the Kwara Police Command has yet to prosecute.
“On 6th July 2016, hoodlums found to be sponsored by allies of Kwara State Deputy Speaker, invaded the palace of Oba of Jebba in daylight, killing and injuring people who have come to felicitate with their king. None of the killers, whose faces were not masked, has been prosecuted till date.”
The ARG stated that if the Kwara Police Command refuses to uphold its constitutional role of guaranteeing the freedom and safety of citizens like Sheik Aduranigba, it should at least stay away from him. The group added that “such feudalistic tendency is anti-democratic and shall be fiercely resisted by our people who over the years have proven themselves as defenders of freedom and democracy”.