Offa/Erin-Ile crisis: Kwara suspends councils

The Kwara State Government has announced the immediate suspension of Offa and Oyun Local Government councils for three months following communal clashes between the two neighbouring communities that claimed lives and properties worth millions of naira.

The state Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, has also approved the appointment of Alhaji Ishaq Abubakar as Sole Administrator of Offa Local Government Area and Alhaji G.B.O. Bello for Oyun Local Government Area.

The Secretary to the Kwara State Government, Alhaji Isiaka Gold, who announced this on Monday during a press briefing on the Erin-Ile/Offa communal crisis, explained that the governor’s decision to suspend the councils of the two local governments was in exercise of the powers conferred on him by the Kwara State Law Number 4 of 2006 (Kwara State Local Government (Amendment Law 2006).

Gold said that the chairmen of Oyun and Offa local government areas, as chief security officers of their councils, failed to protect the people of their communities and maintain public order.

According to the SSG, the suspension was also borne out of the need to prevent the deterioration of the security situation in Offa and Erin-Ile due to the clear and present danger of the breakdown of law and order, security and public safety in the two communities.

Ahmed, according to the SSG, has also set up a judicial commission of enquiry, headed by Justice Adeyinka Sikiru Oyinloye, to probe the Erin-Ile/Offa communal crisis.

Other members of the committee include Barrister Abdulazeez Ayodeji Ibrahim; a retired Head of Service of the Kwara State Civil Service, Alhaji A.R. Shehu; a retired Permanent Secretary, Job Afolayan; Mrs. F.A. Lawal of the state Ministry of Justice; and Dr. Jelili Animashaun of the University of Ilorin.

Others are Assistant Commissioner of Police, Olatunji Ayodele; Lieutenant Colonel A.A. Ahmed of the Nigerian Army; and Alhaji A.A. Yusuf of the Governor’s Office.

The Judicial Commission of Enquiry, Alhaji Gold said, is expected to submit its report within six weeks, with a promise that those found culpable in the Erin-Ile/Offa crisis would bear the consequences.

The SSG recalled that when the crisis started, a government delegation met with the traditional rulers of Offa and Erin-Ile, while the Chairman, Kwara State Traditional Council of Chiefs and Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, was requested by the state government “to mediate between the Olofa of Offa and the Elerin of Erin-Ile to promote a more cordial relationship between the two monarchs and their communities.”