Minister for State Transportation, Senator Ruqayyat Gbemisola Saraki, has strongly condemned the last Thursday demolition of Ile-Arugbo in Ilorin by the Kwara State Governor, Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq.
The Minister also condemned the unleashing terror and mayhem on innocent defenseless aged women that are regular occupants of the demolished structure.
Senator Gbemisola Saraki said the action was a vindictive politics, driven by envy, motivated by jealousy and practiced without integrity.
The nation’s Transportation Minister for state broke the silence in a statement issued on Friday (January 3 ,2020) and signed by Titilope Anifowoshe, titled the “Those Who Come To Equity, Must Come With Clean Hands- The Demolition of Ile Arugbo”.
She added that the decision of the state governor over the land is about turning personal vendetta into official matters.
She said the idea of “using security agencies and live ammunition to settle political and personal scores is NOT what the Buhari Administration is about”
She called upon the Inspector General of Police to call the State Commissioner of Police to order who ordered his men to open fire on helpless aged women.
“The level of force and violence that the Governor chose to adopt was totally unwarranted. What resistance to protest justifies firing live ammunition and tear gassing old women? Even my own personal home was not left out of the attack as numerous empty bullet shell casings and dispersed tear gas cannisters were found inside my home.
“I feel that at this point not only as a child ofthe late Waziri but as a member of the APC, I need to speak. I do so not only as a daughter but as a member of the party, to ensure that those thousands of members of APC who are Sarakites that supported the OToGe Movement are not alienated. In addition, I do so to ensure that the resounding victory that APC enjoyed in Kwara is not short-lived or diminished.
“Governments acquire properties, even compulsorily without necessarily resorting to unprovoked violent attacks in the dead of night. It is especially disrespectful to me personally, as a member ofthe APC since 2015, who welcomed and supported those who only joined us a couple of months to the elections, which includes the Governor himself, that my position as a member of the party was not given any consideration and/or regard when approaching this issue”
“Again, as a loyal and dedicated daughter of my father, Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki, whom I hold in very high esteem, I did not want to express my opinion on the propriety of the Governor’s recent political actions as it would be seen as biased because the late Waziri is my father.
However, given the turn of events and the violent nature of the Governor’s position, it is only right for me to speak now” the statement read in part.
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