Governors of states in the South-West of Nigeria on Thursday in Ibadan, the capital city of Oyo State allayed the fear being nursed in some quarters over the launch of Amotekun –especially, those nursing the fear that the project will be hijack by politicians.
Amotekun is a security network conceived by the South-West governors to combat crimes in the region.
The governors said the Amotekun is a necessary intervention and pragmatic solution required to tackle the criminal activities currently threatening the peace and the economic development of the region.
Ondo State Governor and Chairman of the South-West Governors Forum, Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, explained the reasons behind the formation of security outfit.
He said: “There is hardly any state that is immune from the negative impact of insecurity. Until recently, it had become very embarrassing that reports of security breaches occurred, on a daily basis, that one could almost predict with exactitude where these unfortunate disturbances would take place.
“From banditry, terrorism, kidnapping, armed robbery, herdsmen-farmers clashes to ritual killings and cybercrimes, the current situation in the country demands pragmatic and proactive solutions.”
Governor Akeredolu though acknowledged the efforts of the Federal Government and its agencies in stemming the dangerous tide of insecurity in the polity, he expressed the hope that the contributions of the governors at the regional level would serve as effective complements.
Akeredolu said the South-West governors did not intend to erect any antagonistic structures whose operations would be at cross-purposes to the existing templates of defence, but were out to rebuild the confidence of the region’s farmers in the nobility of their vocation and to also ensure that the region was not safe miscreants.
He said: “The protection of our people is paramount and all the governors of the region are united in the resolve to put in everything, including our God-given talents, to ensure that there is peace and security in the South-West.
“Our aspiration for a prosperous society is largely dependent on this anticipated achievement.”
The Chairman of the South-West Governors Forum, however, cleared the doubt in the minds of skeptics over the personnel to be recruited into Amotekun security outfit.
According to him, the operational framework of Amotekun is already being handled by the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission, which will be saddled with the responsibility of monitoring its activities to ensure that the outfit operates within its mandate.
He said: “The Commission has taken care of all grey areas that could cause friction in the operations of the personnel that will be deployed for the programme.
“As a matter of fact, the Nigeria Police will oversee and moderate the activities of Amotekun, thus making its operation conform to the acceptable standard.
“Nobody with questionable character will participate in the programme. We will make it difficult for undesirable elements to compound the challenges being encountered.
“Proper background checks will be carried out on personnel to be recruited while the needed registration/identification of such personnel will be done to ensure accountability.
“Amotekun is, therefore, not a parallel security outfit to the constitutionally recognised security organisation in the country.
“It will only play a complementary role and collaborate with the security agencies, especially in intelligence gathering in protecting lives and property across the region.”
He added that Amotekun’s personnel would be deployed all over the South-West, especially, at flashpoints to gather intelligence to ease the operations of the nation’s security agencies.
Those present at the event included the host governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde, Dr Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, Mr Ayo Afolabi and several others.
Packaged by Alice Egbedele
