Posted by By OLA AGBAJE, Lagos and NWAGBO NNENYELIKE, Ilorin on
Former Governor of Kwara State, Alhaji Mohammed Lawal, has accused the state government of instigating the mayhem that has engulfed Ilorin, the state capital for the past three days.
Former Governor of Kwara State, Alhaji Mohammed Lawal, has accused the state government of instigating the mayhem that has engulfed Ilorin, the state capital for the past three days.
Lawal made the accusation in Lagos Tuesday while reacting, for the first time, to the violence in which his family house was torched following protest over the installation of Alhaji Shuaib Aremu Zubair as the new Mogaji Are.
Zubair was installed on Sunday by the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, after he had been rejected by Afonja descendants who named and installed Alhaji Saaju Alabi Sulaiman as Mogaji Are the day before.
Zubair's convoy was attacked by thugs while returning from the installation, sparking a fracas in which two people were killed.
Alhaji Lawal's reaction came as more mobile policemen were deployed to Idi-Ape and entry routes into Ilorin, while the residences of the four newly appointed chiefs were cordoned off by armed security men for fear of invasion by members of the Oodua Peoples Congress.
While accusing Governor Bukola Saraki's administration of engineering the mayhem, Lawal alleged that the chief-of-staff to the governor personally supervised the burning of his family house, the Mogaji Are's compound and the Baba Isale's residence.
"I wonder why he has decided to visit my family house, set ablaze by his men. Here is a man who never sympathised with me when my mother died; here is a man who never bothered to say a word to me when my father died.
"It is all political gimmick; a press show to give false impression of a sympathetic governor. But inwardly, he only visited the scene to see a job well done by his men.
"The chief of staff of Governor Bukola supervised the burning, while the government vehicle was on the ground. That was why I was surprised when someone I respect phoned me that he has visited the scene," he said.
Giving account of the burning of the buildings, Lawal alleged that the police involved in the operation climbed the building and set it ablaze from the top.
However, the ex-governor appealed to the Afonja descendants to remain calm and avoid taking the law into their hands even in the face of obvious provocation.
According to him, he had approached all relevant authorities that he believed would allow justice and fairness to prevail. "I have got in touch with the Inspector General of Police and all the relevant authorities and I believe they would do the right thing. I know as a matter of fact that truth will prevail in the end," Lawal said.
He, however, warned that the issue of Mogaji Are is a serious and sensitive one that is capable of assuming national dimension if not carefully handled.
"It is an issue that affects all Yoruba race and the entire Yoruba race is watching and monitoring what is going on in Ilorin," he said.
He stated that there is a normal procedure for selecting a new Mogaji which, according to him, is based on concession among the families concerned.
Said he: "When the families reached a concession on the choice of new Mogaji Are, he would be turbaned in-house before being presented to the Emir. That is the process. So the Emir cannot just go out of his way to install a Mogaji Are outside the people."
On his perceived strained relationship with the Emir of Ilorin, Lawal pointed finger at the governor's father, Dr Olusola Saraki, whom he accused of masterminding the split. "When I was the governor of Ogun State, the Emir was then at the Court of Appeal, Ibadan. We were close. He visited me regularly and even when the stool of Emir became vacant, I did everything possible to assist him.
"But it was the governor's father who used to come to tell me to beware of the Emir. And unknown to me, he would go and tell the Emir that I was planning to remove him. Such was the situation that before I became aware of what was going on, serious damage had been done to the relationship."
He traced the genesis of the crisis between the Emir and the Afonja descendants in Ilorin to 1967 when there was a move to lower the rank of Mogaji Are, hence, he said he approached the Emir as soon as he was installed and urged him to seize the the opportunity to resolve the difference between the two sides on the Emir's term. "But unfortunately he never responded."
At Ilorin on Tuesday the areas taken over by the Police included Offa-Ilorin, Ogbomoso-Ilorin, and Bode Saadu-Ilorin (Shao Junction) federal highways.
When Daily Sun visited these areas, palpable fear hung in the air among the people. But the fear was more at Idi-Ape area where commercial activities have been totally crippled.
The tension was still high as few people, especially students returning from school, moved with their hands raised up, while many residents were not allowed to come out at all. A policeman was seen shouting at those who opened their doors to shut them and go in.
The areas of the newly-crowned Baloguns cordoned off by the police are Gambari Area of Alhaji Muhammed Aliyu Adebayo, Balogun Gambari; Alanamu Area of Alhaji Abubakar Akanbi Jos, Balogun Alanamu; Ajikobi area for Alhaji Usman Baba Olobi, Balogun Ajikobi, and Fulani Area of Alhaji Muhammed Durosinlorun Atiku, Balogun Fulani.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Gideon Markus, said the reason for the beefing up of security was the threat by the OPC coordinator, Gani Adams, that the congress would wade into the matter. "We have to fortify the entry points into Ilorin with more policemen. This is because of the threat from Gani Adams, the OPC leader. They may come into Ilorin and attack the police. We had been attacked before. We cannot afford any again. We are there for peace," he said, adding, "for now, we will not allow any group, be it vigilance or whatever, to come to the area. Police can make the peace.''
Meanwhile, the Kwara State Government has washed its hands off the crisis.
Speaking through the Chief Press Secretary, Bisi Abidoye, the state government described Lawal's allegation of as "most ludicrous and we dismiss it as such."
The statement said that since the inception of the Saraki administration in 2003, violent crimes and disorder that charaterised the immediate past administration of the former governor had given way to peace and order.
The government said that it was preposterous for anyone to suggest that it instigated a crisis that would breach the peace and distract the attention of the government.