Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq hands over 25 new Hilux vehicles to the state Commissioner of Police, Ojo Adekimi, at a brief ceremony in Ilorin on Monday. Credit: Kwara govt
Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, on Monday presented 25 Toyota Hilux vehicles to the state command of the Nigeria Police Force to strengthen its operational capacity and efforts to combat crime.
The vehicles were presented at Ahmadu Bello House, Ilorin, according to a statement by the Deputy Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Moshood Agboola, obtained by The PUNCH.
He said the vehicles were the first batch of about 100 vehicles the administration planned to distribute to security agencies, adding that other agencies would receive theirs in subsequent phases.
AbdulRazaq said the intervention was aimed at sustaining security gains recorded in recent months, while commending the police and other security agencies for their efforts in maintaining peace across the state.
He urged the police to use the vehicles judiciously, noting that the remaining vehicles would be distributed in phases.
“You know the yeoman’s jobs the security agencies have been doing to improve the security of the state. We have made serious progress in the recent months.
“And to sustain the work they have been doing, we have decided to provide mobility vehicles for the police force.
“Other agencies will also benefit soon. We are doing this in stages. Altogether we are giving about 100 vehicles. This is the first set of vehicles to be delivered. Others will come soon. We trust they will use them judiciously,” AbdulRazaq said.
The governor urged residents to provide security agencies with useful information to help prevent crime and address emerging threats before they escalate.
“My message to Kwarans is to always tell the security agencies anything they see. Active intelligence gathering is the most important thing to nip things in the bud and make sure they don’t degenerate,” he added.
AbdulRazaq described Kwara as one of the most peaceful states in the country, attributing the situation to the efforts of security agencies.
“We thank them for their services. As you can see, from all indices, Kwara State is still one of the most peaceful states in Nigeria, by independent observation,” he said.
Receiving the vehicles, the state Commissioner of Police, Ojo Adekimi, said the donation was among several interventions by the governor to support the command, including the payment of special allowances to personnel deployed on special duties.
“This is one of the many (good) things the Executive Governor has been doing for the Police, apart from paying special allowances to those on special duties, which is assisting in making our jobs easier,” Ojo said.
He said the vehicles would help address operational gaps, particularly in hard-to-reach areas, and pledged that the command would put them to proper use.
“This particular gesture will assist in bridging some gaps that we currently have, especially in hard-to-reach places. So, we thank the Governor for this great job. We are promising the state and the Executive Governor that we are going to make good use of the vehicles,” the police chief said.
Ojo added that the command would intensify its operations despite improvements in the state’s security situation.
“The security system has improved but we are going to double our efforts to achieve greater success,” he said.
The latest donation follows previous interventions by the AbdulRazaq administration to provide operational vehicles and other equipment to security agencies in the state.
On February 21, 2020, the state government handed over Toyota Hilux vans to security agencies under Operation Harmony, a state-backed, multi-agency security initiative.
At the ceremony in Ilorin, the governor was represented by the then Secretary to the State Government, Professor Mamman Jubril, while the then Commissioner of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, received the vehicles on behalf of the security chiefs.
On June 24, 2021, AbdulRazaq presented 20 patrol vehicles and bulletproof vests to security agencies. The vehicles comprised 10 saloon cars allocated exclusively to the police and 10 Toyota Hilux vans for the rapid-response arm of Operation Harmony.
The then Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Bagega, commended the government for its support.
On November 14, 2022, the government donated 10 patrol vehicles to the Operation Harmony Tactical Team, a joint security outfit operating under the state police command.
The vehicles were handed over to the then Commissioner of Police, Paul Odama.
The state government described the donation as the third time the administration had provided operational vehicles to the police, while noting that other security agencies had also benefited from separate distributions.
In a broader distribution on August 7, 2023, AbdulRazaq presented 32 patrol vehicles and 160 motorcycles to support security operations across the state’s 16 local government areas.
The allocation was intended to improve mobility, particularly in the hinterlands, and was not described as a donation exclusively to the police command.