Police From Force HQ Fail To Arrest Suspects In Ilorin Sallah Stampede

A Special Police squad deployed from Force
Headquarters, Abuja to Ilorin, the Kwara State
capital, to investigate last week’s stampede at
the Ile Loke home of the Sarakis, did not yield
any arrests as the officers said the allegations
they were acting on, did not conform with reality. The police agents, it was learnt, visited the
state on Sunday evening to arrest the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) chairman in the state,
Ishola Balogun-Fulani, Yemi Afolayan
(secretary) and the state Publicity Director,
Mas’ud Adebimpe, according to sources in Ilorin. However, upon getting to the scene of the
stampede which left no fewer than 12 persons
dead, the officers were reportedly astonished
that what they saw did not tally with what
they were told. According to sources, the policemen
wondered how people could have suffocated
in a ‘mini-stadium’. Besides, “we could not see any broken down
wall or fence as claimed to be responsible for
the death of the people,” one of them was
quoted to have said. Reacting to the development, the state PDP
scribe, Mr. Afolayan said the Sallah day
stampede was being over-dramatized, noting:
“The venue had been in existence for some
time now but we are today shocked at many
wicked lies being said about Ile-Arugbo (Home of Charity).”

Force Headquarters Explain N5,500 Deductions From Police Salaries

The Force Headquarters has explained to
grumbling members of the force whose
grievances have been over ‘forced
deductions’ of N11,000 from their salaries
(N5,500 each in June and July) by the
leadership of the force, to acquire shares for policemen in the Police Mortgage Bank,
that the deductions were meant to assist
the officers own houses. Force spokesman, CSP Frank Mba, who
spoke to Vanguard explained that with the
Police having a whooping N8 billion tied
down in the Federal Mortgage Bank of
Nigeria, an amount which many other
mortgage concerns have been accessing and benefiting from, the present Police
leadership feels time had come for
policemen to enjoy the fruit of their labour. Mba noted that with the contribution of
N11,000 across board (from IGP to
constable), which makes every policeman a
share holder and part owner of the Police
Mortgage Bank, “Every police officer
irrespective of rank is entitled to a loan of up to N15 million at a single digit interest
rate not exceeding eight per cent and
repayable over a maximum period of 30
years, to build his own house. “Every police officer irrespective of rank
can also get up to N15 million on same
terms to renovate his property, purchase a
piece of land and purchase a house either
independently or through the Police
Housing Scheme.”