‘Upsurge in hotels aiding crime in Kwara’

House of Assembly and Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressives Union (IEDPU) yesterday raised the alarm over the proliferation of hotels and guest houses in the state. According to them, aside from promoting immortality amongst the youths, the hotels were also serving as hide – outs for criminals.

Speaking at a stakeholders’ forum organised by the IEDPU over rising security threats in Ilorin, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Dr Ali Ahmad, said steps were being taken to reverse the trend. He said recent fi ndings had shown that Kwara had highest number of hotels in the country with Adewole Housing Estate, Ilorin, topping the list with over 100 hotels.

He said the legislative framework when eventually passed, would introduce stringent conditions into the land use law, which would, in turn, make it diffi cult for anyone to convert residential building to a hotel or guest house. “By gazette, Kwara has highest number of hotels in Nigeria. In Adewole Housing Estate alone, there are over 100 hotels or guest houses. Most of the hotels are residential buildings converted to hotels with no approval from relevant authorities. “We are presently working on an executive bill that would regulate proliferation of hotels, sales of alcohol and consumption of liquor within some areas within Ilorin metropolis. So, if that law is put in place, we will put in stringent measures that would make it impossible or very diffi cult to actually convert a residential building to a hotel.” IEDPU President, Alhaji Abdulhamid Adi, warned that the cultural values of Ilorin were being gradually eroded with corrosive infl uence of alien practices.

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