Governors of the South West region have resolved to go ahead with the implementation of “Operation Amotekun” with vigour despite its declaration by the Federal Government as illegal.
The governors had launched the security outfit as part of measures to combat crime in the six states of the South West.
However, Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, Abubakar Malami, on Tuesday, had declared the outfit illegal saying its inauguration violated the provisions of the Nigerian constitution.
“No other authority at the state level, whether the executive or legislature has the legal authority over defence,” Malami said.
However, Chairman of the South West Governors Forum and Governor of Ondo State, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu and the Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, yesterday, maintained that despite the Federal Government’s position, they would continue with the project.
Governor Akeredolu, who spoke in Akure at the laying of wreath for fallen soldiers during the 2020-Armed Forces Remembrance day celebration said the new security outfit would go a long way in preventing crime in the region.
“Governors in the South West are prepared to pursue operation Amotekun to a logical conclusion notwithstanding the federal government’s position on it. We are sure that this new outfit will check incidences of banditry, kidnapping, farmers and herders clashes among other vices,” said Akeredolu.
According to him, Operation Amotekun was not a para-military outfit, but a security outfit designed to complement the efforts of other government security agencies.
Reacting, Governor Makinde declared that Malami lacked the power to declare the legality or otherwise of the newly launched South West security outfit.
He noted that it would be improper for the Attorney General to outrightly condemn the constitutionality of Amotekun without due recourse to the Constitution, particularly when his duties was only limited to interpreting laws.
Makinde gave this position while answering questions from newsmen, after meeting with forrmer president, Olusegun Obasanjo at his private residence inside the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Ogun State.
He urged members of the public to regard the statement credited to the Attorney General as hearsay, noting “neither myself nor any other governors from the South West who co-sponsored the regional security outfit has even been officially communicated over the constitutionality of Amotekun.
“My personal position is that you actually don’t run a government on the social media. If I see a letter or a call from the AGF telling me what he just said, then it will be a different reaction. But I have been reading it just like you read it on the social media. I haven’t seen anything official to that effect.
“I don’t think in a country like Nigeria, the AGF will just wake up and make his own laws. He may interpret and advice the president on the issue.”
Outspoken lawyer, Femi Falana also faulted Malami.
“In the North-East region, particularly Yobe and Borno, there is a civilian JTF, well-armed; and sometimes when the soldiers are afraid they ask the civilian JTF to go and confront Boko Haram.
“In Kano and Sokoto, you have Hisbah. Three weeks ago, Hisbah in Zamfara arrested a policeman; they said the policeman was caught in a hotel with three women and they said that was an abomination.
“The point I’m making is that the Nigerian state has collapsed; we are deceiving ourselves. What the (South-West) governors are doing is not more than the Neighbourhood Watch in Lagos. The only prohibition against any kind of group is in Section 227 of the Constitution – Nobody shall set up a military wing for political reasons.”
Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has insisted that Operation Amotekun has come to stay in the South West irrespective of its legality.
He said the supplementary security outfit launched in Ibadan last week, came up as a result of series of meetings by leaders of the region. He said the assent of the organisation was to curb insecurity issues that existing security bodies have not been able to put an end to.
He spoke during a press conference at his Kongi’s Harvest Art Gallery, Freedom Park, Lagos
“Amotekun is a result of meetings to curb menace in the region. Some people who have been sleeping all this time, taking belated actions while villages are been wiped out are now telling us this that people do not have right to flush out the evil ones among them which the exiting security outfits have not been able to do. I think they should go back to sleep because Amotekun has come to stay,” said Soyinka.
He said a serious government that cared for its citizens would not object to such an initiative.
“The initiative is quite legal and constitutional, and in any case the Federal Government should go to court. I have 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. 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,” said Soyinka.
He said a determined community policing unit can be very effective in taming criminals, and that the necessary legal complications of the operation were considered by the governors before its launch.
Solomon Asemota, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said the south-western states were not out of order and that they had 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.
The Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yoruba land and National Coordinator of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Iba Gani Adams, also condemned the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) over his threat that the full course of the law would be applied on anybody promoting the Amotekun security initiative.
Adams in a letter to the AGF dated January 15, said the right to preserve and protect life could never be in the exclusive list of any government.
He said the AGF outburst against the governors who were elected, not selected or appointed, was against the spirit of the 1999 Constituted.
“It is unfortunate that rather than praise the governors, you are condemning their action, thereby, strengthening the hands of those who believe the Federal Government is against some sections of the country. As a lawyer and a Senior Advocate, you should know that you are not the law. You are only the Attorney-General, not a court. It is only a court of competent jurisdiction that will decide if what an individual, group of individuals, an entity or a state does is legal or otherwise.
“So, it is only a court that can invalidate the South-West joint security initiative, not you. I want to establish this fact that the Yoruba have a right to protect themselves from attack or violence of any sort.
“Issues of security is highly sensitive, and we can now understand where the threat is coming from. It is unfortunate that the Federal Government is doing everything to frustrate the South West governors’ efforts,” Adams said.
He said Amotekun had nothing to threaten the territorial integrity of Nigeria, and that if there was any, the military would come in immediately.
“One thing is clear: Nigerians have the right to protect themselves. Not only that: South-West people have a right to protect and defend themselves against attacks. Amotekun is an initiative by the South-West governors to defend our people,” Adams said.
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has criticised the Federal Government for calling ‘Operation Amotekun’ illegal, describing it as an attempt to frustrate the region from protecting lives and property.
Addressing newsmen in Abeokuta, SouthWest Coordinator of NANS, Kowe Odunayo, described the position of the AGF on Amotekun as “a tactical move to make the South West unsafe for its people and susceptible to Fulani herdsmen’s attacks.”
Odunaya vowed that NANS would resist any attempt to stop the security architecture designed to safeguard the region.
He called on South West governors to resist the attempt to “kill their initiative” and expressed its readiness to support ‘Amotekun’.
