The federal government has stirred the hornet’s nest by declaring the Amotekun security outfit put together by governors of the six southwest states as illegal.
The attorney general of the federation and minister of justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami who made the government’s position known 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.
The statement read: “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.
“This is sanctioned by the provision of Item 45 of the Second Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) authorising the Police and other Federal Government security services established by law to maintain law and order.
“The law will take its natural course in relation to excesses associated with organisation, administration and participation in Amotekun or continuous association with it as an association.
“Finally, it is important to put on record that the office of the attorney general and minister of justice was not consulted on the matter.
“If it had, proper information and guidance would have been offered to ensure that Nigeria’s defence and corporate entity are preserved at all times.”
In its reaction, the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) said the government’s position reinforces the suspicion that sections of the country are deliberately being rendered vulnerable to herdsmen and other criminals by the federal government.
In a statement signed by Yinka Odumakin (southwest), C. R. U Iherike (southeast), Bassey Henshaw (south-south) and Isuwa Dogo (middle belt) the group said Malami’s action further exposed Nigeria as a country under command and control and governed by a conquest mentality.
“We ask the governors of the southwest to ignore Malami and allow him to go to court to challenge their decision as he cannot constitute himself a court over elected governors. We are not under military rule,” the statement said.
“We insist that what the governors have done is what individuals and neighborhoods can legally do to secure their lives and property.
“The right to preserve your life cannot be under any exclusive list other than the list of those who have no value for human lives.
“The ultra vires action of the AGF has further exposed Nigeria as a country under command and control and governed by a conquest mentality.
“We ask Malami to tell us what makes Amotekun illegal and Hisbah legal.
“He should further explain to us what makes Civilian JTF legal in the North East where there is war and in Kaduna and Kano where there is no war, while Amotekun is his only illegal take.
“This is a defining moment to decide if we are under segregation and different laws in the country.”
Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, condemned the federal government’s declaration saying a serious government who cares for its citizens would not object to such initiative.
“The initiative is quite legal and constitutional and in any case, the federal government should go to court,” he said
Soyinka who spoke at a press conference in Lagos on Wednesday said it was disappointing to see the reaction to a very simple operation taken by southwest governors, in which “some people in high places speaking perhaps for the government objected the initiative.”
He added that the Amotekun operation was not only appropriately required, but long overdue.
He said it is the fundamental right of the people to defend themselves from killers and other unscrupulous forces that threaten their existence.
“I’ve always believed passionately in self-policing. If it is possible to eliminate any kind of formal policing, I will be forward. But there is a need for an organised security.
“To say that the people do not have a right to defend their lives, secure a livelihood and flush out the evil elements and pick up the slack that existing securities are unable to fulfil is an enemy action and inhumane,” he added.
He further said having “some people who have been sleeping all this while, taking belated actions, who watched all the security threats that citizens suffer saying the initiative is illegal and unconstitutional is unacceptable.”
A senior lawyer, Mr. Solomon Asemota faulted the attorney general saying the south-western states are not out of order and have the right to protect their people.
“The federal government itself can go to court, both parties put up arguments and thereafter decide what the majority of Nigerians want,” he said
In his reaction, another senior lawyer, Mr. Mike Ozekhome said there is no conflict between Amotekun and the provisions of the Constitution.
He told Premium Times that the minister of justice was in error and his statement tended to treat the states and other units of the federation as ‘vassals’ or ‘pupils.’
He contended that the provisions of Section 214 and 215 of the Constitution left the states bare with nothing to tackle insecurity, noting that the states ought to be allowed to defend the territorial integrity to the extent to which their security demands.
“Operation Amotekun was a direct response by the south western states to the pervading and pervasive insecurity situation of that geopolitical zone where farmlands are being ravaged by external armed bandits, killing people in their farms, maiming people in their homes, raping their wives and daughters, even with an elder statesman like Olu Falae being kidnapped from his own farm and even having the farm set on fire.
“So, what the federal government is saying by the statement…is like telling the states, ‘you are nothing but mere vassals, mere appendages of this contraption we call Nigeria and that your voice and your security do not matter.
“I think the federal government is wrong in this regard, I think that Nigeria being a constitutional democracy, running a federal system of government, we should begin to break our security apparatchik, particularly the police, the same way we have it in America.
“I think the federal government should reverse its aversion to this carefully thought out programme that is sub-regional to defend its territorial integrity across its lines and allow peace to reign.”
Ozekhome said even though the constitution recognises the Navy, Army, Air Force and the police to provide security the constitution did not envisage that they will be able to sufficiently provide security for all the sections of the country.
He said with the Civilian Joint Task Force and other state-initiated security outfits in the north, “none of which had been declared illegal by the federal government”, it was curious for the federal government to consider the Amotekun venture by the southwest states as being contrary to the constitution. “I think it is double talk, and it amount to duplicity.
“I will advise the South-west governments to head to the court to challenge the decision of the federal government,” he said.
Inhis reaction, the chairman of South West Governors’ Forum, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu vowed that the governors would pursue operation Amotekun to a logical conclusion.
Akeredolu who spoke at the 2020 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration in Akure on Wednesday said there was no going back.
“We the six south west governors are fully prepared to ensure that operation Amotekun succeeds.
“Amotekun is not a para-military outfit, the introduction of the security outfit is to Compliment the efforts of other security agencies.
“We are prepared to ensure operation Amotekun succeeds. Operation Amotekun is not a paramilitary outfit.
“It is in our quest to further curtail the menace of kidnapping, banditry and other crimes in Ondo State and the entire Southwest region that we launched Operation Amotekun.
“It is one of the many solutions being proffered to our security challenges in Western Nigeria.
“We want to assure you that the activities of the personnel working for the outfit will be monitored and streamlined along their mandate of securing lives and property of people of Ondo State and entire Western Nigeria and it will not be used for political purposes,” Akerdolu said.
For his part, the governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Kayode Fayemi was quoted as saying in a television interview that issue should not be about whether the federal government or governors can misuse police or any security outfit.
Explaining the logic behind the setting up of the security outfit, Fayemi said “power, unrestrained is always misused.
“I was a sitting governor, I had immunity; I was assaulted. Go into history books. What we should be talking about is how to make sure the security institution is accountable within the frameworks of democratic control.
“It is not about whether the federal government or governors can misuse police. Power unrestrained is always misused. That different initiatives are springing up point to the fact that citizens are not happy with the security situation in the land.
“Governors have a duty and responsibility that are spelt out in the constitution: The security and welfare of the citizens should be their number one priority.
“So, if people in my own area of jurisdiction are saying “we don’t know what you are doing”, should something not be done? We are funding police; we are buying vehicles, we are buying security gadgets, we are paying allowances, yet we don’t get enough security.
“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,” he said.
