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Precisely on January 9, this year, the much-talked about Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN) code-named ‘Amotekun’ was launched by six governors of the South West geo-political zone. The birth place was Ibadan, Oyo State capital.
The security network, which will be piloted by the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission is to tackle the problem of insecurity within the region.
Tagged ‘Operation Amotekun’; it is expected to complement the efforts of the regular police force in the zone to combat kidnapping, armed robbery, banditry, herdsmen and farmers contentions, among others.
The establishment of the outfit was as a result of failure of the current security system to bring the needed safety of lives and property.
Before this time, there were cases of killings, kidnapping, raping and other life-threatening incidents that made the roads and forests unsafe for residents and especially those traveling within the zone.
Nigerians will not forget in a hurry in 2015 with the kidnap of former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Olu Falae, by herdsmen in his farm in Akure, Ondo State.
Falae was lucky to have regained his freedom after parting with N5 million, but an aide of his was killed and his body dismembered. And many have been kidnapped, terrorised and also killed either on the highway, in the forest or even in their residences.
Funke Olakunrin, daughter of the national leader of pan Yoruba Social-political organisation, Afenifere, Reuben Fasoranti was brutally murdered at Kajola, along Ore-Shagamu Expressway.
Her killers are yet to be found while the investigations into the incident by the police is still on-going
The convoy of Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, in June, last year, was attacked by bandits.
Nigerians would also recall the sad tales of kidnapping and wanton killing which engulfed the Akure–Ibadan expressway, the Ore-Benin Expressway and the Owo-Akoko axis.
Ekiti State also witnessed gruesome incidences of kidnapping, armed robberies and ritual murders.
Also, suspected killer herdsmen on Akure-Ilesa Expressway, Otan-Ile and Imesi in Obokun, Osun State, kidnapped many travelers. It took the efforts of local hunters, vigilantes and O’odua People’s Congress (OPC) members and later the police and State Security Service to secure freedom of less than half of the passengers.
Likewise, in May, a Professor of Medicine at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Olayinka Adegbehingbe, was abducted on the Ibadan-Ife Expressway. The surgeon said he paid a ransom of over N5million to regain his freedom.
Dayo Adewole, son of former minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, was kidnapped in his farm in Iroko village near Fiditi in Afijio Local Government Area of Oyo State in June last year; he was released after paying an undisclosed ransom.
Similarly, three people traveling between Lagos and Ibadan suffered the same fate in July, last year. It took days for them to regain their freedom, among other numerous incidents of inhuman activities of kidnappers and Fulani herdsmen in the region.
This informed decision by the governors of the South-west states to create operation ‘Amotekun’.
Before the eventual launch of the outfit, a regional security summit had been held in Ibadan in June 2019. It was the decision at the meeting that gave rise to ‘Amotekun.’.
The six governors from the zone; Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Gboyega Oyetola (Osun), Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos) and Kayode Fayemi ((Ekiti) and Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), at the June 2019 meeting had agreed to establish Amotekun, aimed at strengthening the security situation in the six states of the region.
Pre-and-post launch efforts to frustrate ‘Amotekun’
Before the launch, there were alleged sinister moves against the actualisation of the security network.
There were oppositions from powerful quarters that mounted pressure on the Federal Government and police authorities to stop it.
A day before the launch, there were rumours that Southwest governors had been summoned to brief the Presidency on the operations of the security outfit which then sent jitters down the spines of some people.
But, Seye Oyeleye, director-general, DAWN Commission, assured that the launch of Amotekun would take off as scheduled as local security personnel such as O’odua People’s Congress (OPC), local vigilance groups and security experts had already been mobilised in each state to work with the conventional security agencies to combat security lapses in the Southwest region.
The same scenario however, played out on Tuesday when the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami declared the outfit as illegal.
In a statement by his media aide, Umar Gwandu, the minister said he was not consulted on the matter, adding that if he had been consulted, proper information and guidance would have been offered to preserve Nigeria’s defence and corporate entity at all times.
“The Federal Republic of Nigeria is a sovereign entity and is governed by laws meant to sustain its corporate existence as a constitutional democracy.
“It is a federation of states, but with the Federal Government superintending over matters of national interests. The division of executive and legislative authority between the federal and state governments has been clearly defined by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).
“It is against the same background that matters relating to the peace, order and good government of the federation and in particular, the defence of the country, are enshrined in the Exclusive Legislative List.”
The letter added that the Second Schedule in Item 17 deals with defence, saying this is a matter that is within the exclusive operational competence of the Federal of Government.
Malami further said that according to schedule, no other authority at the state level, whether the executive or legislature has the legal authority over defence.
According to him, “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, including 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.”
Malami further said that the law would take its natural course in relation to excesses associated with organisation, administration and participation in ‘Amotekun’ or continuous association with it as an association.
Afenifere urges aggrieved parties to go to court
Reacting to the pronouncement of the attorney-general, Olawale Oshun, chairman of Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG), has described as “rubbish” Malami’s statement.
While challenging Malami to declare Hisbah Corps, (a religious police force responsible for the enforcement of Sharia) and Civilian Joint Task Force among others in the Northeast illegal, Oshun said: “He is talking arrant nonsense.”
According to him, “Let him declare Hisbah police in the 10 Northern states illegal and also let him declare illegal the Civilian Joint Task Force in the Northeast; those are not Nigerian police institutions and they are not Nigerian security institutions but they were created because there is a need.”
Urging the governors of the Southwest to go ahead with the implementation of the ‘Amotekun’, he noted that it was created because there is a need for it.
Gani Adams blows hot
Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams has written an open letter to Malami, saying: “I find it disturbing your statement of Tuesday, January 14, 2020, declaring the security initiative of South-West governors, ‘Amotekun’, as illegal. You also threatened that the full course of the law will be applied to anybody promoting the Amotekun security initiative. Maybe, you have forgotten. I need to remind you that you are the Attorney-General of the country, not a section of the country.
“So, your outburst against the governors who were elected, not selected or appointed is against the spirit of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). The right to life is universal and no government can legislate against that. I don’t need to bother you about killings, kidnappings, banditry and other criminal vices in the South-West recently.”
‘Amotekun’ not a regional police – Fayemi, others
While dispelling the rumours making the round that the outfit is a regional police, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State and chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), said Amotekun was neither an alternative to any of the conventional security agencies in the country nor a state police. Fayemi said that the Southwest governors were not out to undermine the integrity and sovereignty of Nigeria but were providing the Yoruba people with a “confidence-building strategy” to tackle crime and criminality in the sub region.
“Amotekun is nothing but a confidence-building strategy for our people in the western zone. When those elements that are going to work in the joint task force with the mainstream security agencies undertake this assignment, they are going to do it with the knowledge of the terrain, language and culture of the community they are going to work,” the Ekiti State governor said.
According to him, “Amotekun is not a duplication neither is it a replacement for the Nigeria Police Force. Amotekun is a complement that gives our people the confidence that they are being looked after by the people they elected into office. We do not want this to create fear in the mind of anyone. We are not creating a regional police force. We are not oblivious of the steps we need to follow in forming state police. We are law-abiding citizens of Nigeria. We know that will require a constitutional amendment and we are not there yet.”
Fayemi emphasised that “Amotekun is nothing but a community policing response to a problem that our people would like to put an end to. But pending the time that the community policing strategy being put together by the Nigeria Police comes to fruition, it is clearly important that we give our people a confidence boosting strategy.”
The governor, who commended the role played by the mainstream security agencies in tackling kidnapping and banditry in the zone, noted that Amotekun would reduce the burden on the agencies which he described as “overstretched”.
“We are daily assaulted by the spate of kidnapping, banditry, armed robbery across the length and breadth of the South West. We obviously sought succour in all the right places and the mainstream security tried their best in arresting the security situation. It was in the context of this development that we lost the daughter of our leader in Afenifere, Pa Fasoranti,” he pointed out.
Fayemi pointed out that as elected leaders of various States, the primary responsibility according to Section (14)2 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, is the security and welfare of our citizens and “that’s what informed the coming together of my colleagues and I to fashion a way that we can utilise to complement the work of our mainstream security agencies that are quite overstretched in their efforts to curb the menace that has afflicted not just our zone, but the entire country at the time.”
On his part, the Chairman of the South West Governors’ Forum and Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu said that governors in the zone were committed, in all ramifications, to the ideals that will make the country stronger and more united, and not to divide it.
He added that the establishment of Amotekun was without prejudice to the expectations of patriotic discharge of our mandates as provided in our laws, noting that the region is concerned with the security of its people and property.
Akeredolu said: “It is appropriate for me at this juncture, to state that the Southwest states of the Federation believe in the unity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and its indissoluble sovereignty. We are committed, in all ramifications, to the ideals that will make the country stronger and more united.
“The various nation-states within the Federation are diverse, yet almost all of us agree that our strength is in our unity. Consequently, we shall continue to support the Federal Government, under the able and indefatigable leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, in its avowed commitment and determination to take the country to the next level. Let me on this note thank DAWN Commission for the wonderful job done in crafting the operational framework for Amotekun.
“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 standards. Amotekun is the Yoruba name for the Leopard. It is not the Tiger, Ekun. It is also important that I allay the fears of all those who have expressed misgivings as regards the quality of the personnel to be recruited to serve in the outfit. There is an adequate recruitment mechanism for the exercise. The conventional security agencies will participate, actively, in profiling the recruits.
“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. Let me seize this opportunity to once again appreciate the Nigerian Armed Forces, the Nigeria Police, State Security Services, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and other security agencies for their unrelenting efforts in combating the various crimes threatening peace and security in the entire country.
In his remarks, Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo State, said” “Traditionally, we have to scare the fear, so the fear can be afraid as well. In Yorba adage they said, we have to conquer fear. Six months ago, we the six governors of the Southwest zone met, to discuss on the way forward on the level of the security of our states.
“We demanded that we set up a regional security outfit that will complement the mainstream security outfit we have in Nigeria, so as to assure we have a well robust security outfit in our states.
Osun State Governor, Gboyega Oyetola who was represented by his Deputy, Benedict Alabi, had thanked the service chiefs for their support in tackling insecurity in the region.
He assured that Amotekun would work in collaboration with all security agencies said “this is in further fulfilling of our promises to our people, for providing a security of lives and properties for our people especially in our region.
“Welfare of our people is very important to us, and after we have brainstormed with ourselves, we decided to come up with this plan. Amotekun is the joint security outfit for our people in the South west region, and Amotekun is nothing but to protect everything in South west region.”
The Royal blessing
On the day it was launched, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, had said: “This is not unlikely in our races; we the traditional rulers are in support of the Amotekun, we have to support our governors to achieve success on this project; we all know what happened in Oyo Town of recent and I can say that Baba Alaafin absence here can be linked to that fire incident. But I can tell you that Baba is in support of this project.”
Oba Ogunwusi said that the governors in the region have done their best and that it was left for the personnel and the citizens of the region to work together for the success of the security outfit.
He added that all the traditional rulers in the region were in support of the new security outfit.
“All the traditional rulers are in support. The success of this security outfit will be of benefit to the present generation and the generation yet unborn,” he said.
Our farmers can now go to farm without fear – Akintoye
Banji Akintoye, a foremost historian and Yoruba leader, said: “We the Yorubas are very grateful for the fact that our governor’s can come together irrespective of their differences to find a way forward to our security issues. They have fulfilled one of their promises, and this one is a serious issue, because we all know that security issue is a vital issue.
“Our farmers can no longer go to farm anymore, because of the fear of some attack from some people, we cannot just sit and continue to watch this event going on without doing nothing; we cannot continue to watch with our hands fold, when this menace of day kidnapping, rubbing us from our farm lands, started, it’s not that we cannot do the needful then, but we are people of impeccable character and we did not fight anybody but we waited for our leaders to act on our behalf and now you can all see what has happened. Today, we are launching the Amotekun Security outfit for our dear region and I think, our governors deserve kudos for this achievement.”
Makinde replies Malami
In the wake of the attorney-general’s pronouncement, Governor Makinde wondered how the AGF would just wake up in the mid of sleep and declared Operation ‘Amotekun’ as illegal and unconstitutional.
“My personal position is that you actually don’t run a government on the social media. If I see a letter or if I get a call from the AGF telling me what you (journalists) just said then it will be a different type of reaction.
“I have been reading just like you (journalists) read on the social media. I haven’t seen anything official to that effect.
“Besides, I don’t think for a country like Nigeria, the AGF will just wake up and make his own laws. He may interpret and advise the President if there are legal issues but I haven’t seen anything that gives that power to the AGF to make such declaration.
“This outfit is complimentary to the efforts of the Nigeria Police and other Security agencies in fighting insecurity in the Southwest region.”
Primate Ayodele spiritualises ‘Amotekun’
Like many things Nigerian, spiritual angles are always brought to bear on every issue. The Founder and Spiritual Leader at INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Babatunde Ayodele, was said to have spiritualised the ‘Amotekun’ outfit, warning the governors of South West that they were embarking on a risky venture.
Ayodele, who was quoted to have released the warning in his message at a church service in Lagos, said the governors have set the tone for those who would exploit their good intention for fanatical purposes.
“Southwest governors are creating internal terrorists. The governors must be careful,” Ayodele cautioned, “so that Amotekun does not become another terror group in the Southwest region through those who might want to use it for purposes other than solving people’s security challenges.”
