John Ameh, Success Nwogu, Leke Baiyewu, Oluwatosin Omojuyigbe, Peter Dada, Daud Olatunji, Abiodun Nejo,A scheduled meeting between the Presidency and the South-West governors on the Western Nigeria Se
curity Network, Operation Amotekun, was called off on Tuesday.While the South-West governors could not meet the Presidency on Tuesday, various groups in the zone held rallies in state capitals in support of Amotekun. In Lagos, the police barricaded the venue of a pro-Amotekun rally.
He stated, “The setting up of the paramilitary organisation called Amotekun is illegal and runs contrary to the provisions of the Nigerian law.” The PUNCH had exclusively reported on Thursday that as part of efforts to find a solution to the problem, the governors would this week meet with the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari .
A source told The PUNCH that the meeting was moved to Thursday when most of the 36 state governors would be in Abuja for the National Economic Council meeting. “It’s a delicate issue, which the VP too may be trying to handle with caution because of possible political backlash at his home base”, another source claimed.
“But the idea of the governors coming for a meeting is to try and discuss to resolve issues like the modu operandi, or to bring Amotekun to fall in line completely with the government’s community policing concept”, the source stated. He said, “We are Yoruba people that have come here on a peaceful rally to support the initiative of the governors of the South-Western states of Nigeria to set up a protective force called Amotekun which is supposed to work with the police and other security agencies to protect the Yoruba land. We paid for the venue but for reasons best known to the Nigeria Police, we were prevented from entering.
In Akure, the Ondo State capital, groups, under the auspices of the Yoruba World Congress, started their pro-Amotekun rally at the MKO Abiola Democracy Park, moved to the palace of the Deji of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Aladelusi, and stopped at the Governor’s Office, Alagbaka, in the company with security agents.
Receiving the group on behalf of the Ondo State governor, the Chief of Staff, Chief Gbenga Ale, who lauded the people for the support, said citizens would not be abandoned to their fate amidst the security challenges. Also, no fewer than 14 groups held a solidarity rally on Amotekun in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital .
“If Hisbah can be in the Northern states, if there can be Civilian Joint Task Force, if there can be vigilante groups, some of them even carry arms, arresting people, so, there is no reason why we should not consider Amotekun in the South-West. Bearing a large banner with the inscription “On Amotekun We Stand,” the participants urged all stakeholders in the region to support the security initiative since it was designed to check rising insecurity.The coordinator of the event, Dr Akin Adejuwon, said the participants were not protesting the seeming opposition to the initiative. He explained that the march was to sensitise the populace to the necessity of the Amotekun security initiative amidst rising insecurity in the region.
An activist, Laoye Sanda, who spoke on behalf of Egbe Ifokanbale Omo Yoruba, harped on the need to convene a national conference in the light of the failure being experienced in governance. “As a nation, our police, armed forces and paramilitary bodies have shown great gallantry, patriotism and dedication to duty. They are our first line of defence against enemies of our nation and saboteurs within our midst. I laud, value and acknowledge them, which is why I awarded scholarships and gave other support to the children of some of our fallen heroes.
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