Despite the furore generated by the federal government’s declaration of Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN) code-named Amotekun as illegal, governors in the Middle Belt are putting heads together to replicate such security outfit in that geo-political zone.
It would be recalled that the attorney general of the federation and minister of justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami had in a statement by his media aide, Dr Umar Gwandu said the security outfit runs afoul of the provisions of the Nigerian law adding that security remains the exclusive preserve of the federal government.
He said “the setting up of the paramilitary organisation called Amotekun is illegal and runs contrary to the provisions of the Nigerian law.
“The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) has established the Army, Navy and Air Force, the Police and other numerous paramilitary organisations for the purpose of the defence of Nigeria.
“As a consequence of this, no state government, whether singly or in a group, has the legal right and competence to establish any form of organisation or agency for the defence of Nigeria or any of its constituent parts.”
Nevertheless, the governor of Plateau State, Mr. Solomon Lalong said during an interaction with his Ekiti State counterpart, Mr. Kayode Fayemi, that his administration was working on the southwest initiative.
Reacting to the federal government’s stand on Amotekun, Fayemi had stated: “There is nothing unique about what we are doing. I am glad that Governor Lalong said “we haven’t seen the details of what you are doing but we are working on a similar arrangement in our own area.”
It was further gathered that prior to the federal government’s pronouncement on Amotekun, the Benue State government had mulled the idea of having a similar outfit in the Middle Belt.
“You know that our zone has in the recent past suffered repeated attacks from armed herdsmen that left many dead, so having a similar outfit here will to a large extent complement the efforts of the conventional security organizations.
“But it will only take the unity and agreement of the states that make up the Middle Belt to have such in our geopolitical zone, though, efforts were being made by various parties and groups in the states of the Middle Belt to forge a common front on the matter before the pronouncement by the federal government.
“I must however, tell you that irrespective of the position of the federal government, states in the Middle Belt will not relent in efforts to ensure that the security challenges in the zone are tackled headlong and a special joint operation similar to Amotekun may be in the cards.
“Curiously, the federal government is not down with the initiative of the southwest but states have vigilante groups and other forms of community security outfits which is just the same thing as the Amotekun they are kicking against.
“Rather than discourage the people and governments of various states from taking steps to support the fight against insecurity, I would advise the Federal Government to support the initiative. After all, the essence is to tackle insuring in the country,” a source from the region said.
Similarly, governors of the northwest had said they were going to copy the southwest initiative by launching a joint security operation to check mate the growing state of insecurity in the region including kidnapping and banditry.
The governor of Katsina State and chairman of Northwest Governors’ Forum, Mr. Bello Masari who stated this at a media parley said his colleagues in the northwest had a lot to learn from the arrangements by their southwest governors.
He said he would invite his southwest counterparts for a meeting on the matter.
“We have a lot to learn from them, I will call a meeting of the states affected by insecurity, to see what they are doing and how we can borrow from them,” Masari said.
Meanwhile, the Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to call Malami to order.
Retired Col. Ade Agbede who spoke on behalf of the group said Amotekun is a Yoruba project and that what the governors did had the blessings of every son and daughter of the Yoruba nation.
He challenged the minister of justice to tell the world the law that empowers nomadic herdsmen to go about with AK 47 without any form of arrest or caution “by our security agencies or the Sharia police that are in operation in some states in the northern part of the country.”
“It sounds absurd and ludicrous that a security initiative made to secure the lives and property of the people that voted the governors into power could be declared illegal, whereas the marauders parading themselves as herdsmen, who have been kidnapping, killing, maiming and assaulting our people have been moving about freely.
“The minister would have to tell the whole world the legal instrument that empowers nomadic herdsmen going about with AK 47 without any form of arrest or caution by our security agencies or the Sharia police that are in operation in some states in the northern part of the country.
“Amotekun has come to stay as an outfit to ensure that our people live peacefully and move freely within our God-given space and as law-abiding people, the outfit will operate within the ambit of the law, cooperate with the government security agencies for as long as our rights are not trampled upon,” he said.
In his reaction, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adewusi Adeyeye Ojaja ll said Amotekun is not mean to take over the duties of the state police or military but to complement them.
He said the security organisation was established to clamp down on the nefarious activities of insurgents and other security threats in the region.
“The South-west governors decided to come together to set up Amotekun on complementary basis to support the already established security systems of Nigeria, such as the police and the arm forces, because of existing security realities. The governors, particularly the APC governors, are very close to the federal government and are in support of the progress of Nigeria, and the good works of this administration,” Oba Ogunwusi said.
He said Amotekun should be seen as a plus to curbing insurgency threats.
“There are some secluded places inside local communities that Nigerian arm forces cannot get to. Most breakthroughs in Boko Haram insurgents’ attacks were as results of the tips from the local vigilantes and traditional rulers and districts heads of those places.
“They would usually give hints of strange people and movements in their localities. They are the ones furnishing the military with information on where to go and not during such operations. And these have helped the Nigerian military to make headway.
“Likewise, Amotekun is established on complementary basis, to give localised intelligent information. And that is the meaning of Amotekun in Yoruba – like the animal masters its terrain, they have mastered the security intelligence of their terrain,” he added.
