The Kwara State Police Command on Monday warned traditional worshippers in the country to relocate the celebration of their forthcoming Isese Day to another state.
The warning is coming following the decision by some leaders of the traditional worshippers to designate Ilọrin as the venue for the World Isese Day slated for August 20, 2023.
But the police said “Intelligence available to the command does not favour the planned celebration.
“They have been advised to relocate their celebration to another state pending a favourable security situation,” the police spokesman Ajayi Okasanmi said in a statement after a security meeting.
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According to Okasanmi, the decision was the outcome of a ‘dialogue’ between the vigilantes, local hunters, community policing members and the leadership of the traditional worshippers in Kwara, along with some of their leaders from adjoining states.
He said the commissioner of police, Ebunoluwarotimi Adelesi also met with other heads of security agencies to review the security situation in the state.
To this end, “A new security operation tagged ‘harmony security week’, has been emplaced.
It would be recalled that the Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, a professor, and the emir of Ilorin, Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, had recently clashed over the latter’s decision to ban a cultural festival of Isese by an Osun devotee, Adesikemi Olokun, in the city of Ilorin.
While the Nobel laureate described the emir’s action as an assault on civilised conduct, the emir said he acted to prevent crisis.