Amotekun: South West Govs dare Buhari, make next move

The South-West governors will meet the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), over the Federal Government’s declaration of the Western Nigeria Security outfit, Operation Amotekun, as illegal.

The PUNCH gathered that the talks with the President would be preceded by a meeting of the South-West governors this week.

The Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, had on Tuesday said Operation Amotekun was illegal, adding that the Federal Government was not carried along while the security outfit was being planned.

But before the launch of the security outfit on Thursday, the Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, who is also the Chairman of the Governors’ Forum, had met the Inspector General of Police, Mohammad Adamu.

The idea to set up the security outfit was conceived by the South-West governors, monarchs and other stakeholders, at a meeting in June last year following a series of killings and kidnapping in the zone.

The PUNCH had last week reported that intrigues among the governors and interference by the Federal Government were threatening the operation of the security outfit.

According to the report, some elements within the Presidency and the police high command are not favourably disposed to the regional outfit because they consider it as part of restructuring agenda which the South-West has been clamouring for.

But a source among the governors told one of our correspondents that they would meet this week.

The source said,” Governors will definitely meet this week and it is in their meeting that they will decide when to meet the President on the matter. One thing that is sure is that there is no going back on that project because it is a project that is being embraced by the entire South-West and other regions.”

We will pursue it to logical conclusion – Akeredolu

The Ondo State Governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, again on Wednesday defended Operation Amotekun, saying it was not a paramilitary outfit.

Akeredolu, who is also the Chairman of the South-West Governors’ Forum, said this at the 2020 Armed Forces Remembrance Day in Akure.

He said, “The security of our people is very paramount to us. That is why you voted us in. Operation Amotekun is to complement the efforts of the armed forces and the police.