Students of Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin, have issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the police hierarchy to unveil the identity of the policemen who allegedly killed their colleague, AbdulQoyum Ishola, in Ilorin, Kwara State.
The students, at a news conference addressed by the president of the institution’s students union government, Comrade Saheed Ishola, yesterday threatened to embark on” ceaseless peaceful protests” if the police authority failed to meet their demand within the stipulated time.
” We give a 24-hour ultimatum to the Nigeria Police Force to answer our demands. Otherwise, we might be left with no choice but to heed the pressure of most of our members/students, who have called for a peaceful, unceasing and unrelenting protest to fight for justice, ” the students said.
” The trust of all Kwara State Polytechnic students in the police to do a diligent and thorough investigation can only be regained by the Kwara police command if the murderous vampires can be unveiled via a well-publicised police parade.
” This act of parading suspects, as we all know, is a normal ritual of the Nigerian Police Force, so we demand the unveiling of the culprit. Kwarans and, indeed, the general public deserve to know them.
“The disclosure of the identity of the officer responsible for this heinous crime and accountability from the police force is expected to be implemented without any delay to calm the nerves of the students and reassure the student community of the altruistic indulgence of the police hierarchy to serve justice,” they said.
The students also demanded that an investigation into the matter be conducted without any form of secrecy or ambiguity, adding, ” We’re sure that there are several houses in the vicinity of the murder with Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV); thus, the investigation is streamlined and straightforward.”
They warned that any attempt to employ delay tactics to sweep the case under the carpet will be frontally resisted, and all those remotely or directly involved in such a satanic and sinister plan will have the Kwara State Polytechnic family to contend with.
They also demanded an immediate and permanent halt to stop-and-search operations along Post Office / Polytechnic routes and payment of restitution to the family of their late colleague.
“Without prejudice to the outcome of the investigation, we demand the Kwara State Police Command, the employers of the murderous officers, must accept the liability for cutting short the lofty dreams of our colleague and roll out comprehensive support and assistance to the family of the deceased. This must include, among others, monetary compensation, trauma counselling and the institution of a scholarship scheme for the siblings of the deceased.
“All these are meagre compared to what our colleague could have achieved in changing the fortune if his low-income family had his life not been brutally cut short by the agents of sorrow in police uniform,” the students added.
While urging the Kwara State governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, to take on the side of the youths and students, they added that their future is at risk if nothing is done to address the “ceaseless and senseless killing of the future leaders by the very people sworn to protect us.
“We also want to state categorically that the SUG is the only recognised student body by the law of the institution and our members are not involved in any protest or violence in the name of demanding justice. We are law-abiding citizens of the country, and we promised to demand justice within the ambience of the law.”
Ishola, an ND 2 student of the Kwara State Polytechnic, was allegedly killed by a police officer last Wednesday in the Sango area of Ilorin, the state capital.
The state police command had on Sunday said it has commenced an investigation into the killing of Ishola, promising to get to the root of the matter.
The police gave the assurance in a statement signed by the command’s spokesperson, Toun Ejire – Adeyemi.
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