Insecurity: Governors should Arm Amotekun To Secure Southwest- Afenifere

Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) on Monday reflected on the growing insecurity in the country and urged Southwest governors to gird their loins.

The group said governors should strengthen Amotekun, the security outfit in the region with sufficient arms, resources and public goodwill to successfully tackle insecurity in any part of the zone.

According to the organisation, the six governors should look inwards by drawing strength from the capacity of their people to defend the region instead of relying on elusive assurance of security by the over-centralised policing system.

ARG leader Olawale Oshun lamented the incessant abductions across the country, calling on the Southwest geo-political zone to be more vigilant and pro-active.

He said the time is ripe for Amotekun operatives, to carry arms in defence of the region like the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF)in the Northeast.

On Sunday, there was uproar in Osun State as gunmen killed a family of six in Wasimi, near Ikire, Irewole Local Government Area.Similar incidents have been reported in Ekiti and Ondo states. Yesterday two students of Ogun-State-owned Olabisi Onabanjo University were kidnapped.

Oshun, a former Chief Whip of the House of Representatives, said reliance on the Federal Government for security could be counter-productive, pointing out that the centralised police, in it’s current form, is ill-equipped and largely defective.

He said the antagonists of decentralisation should have a rethink and join forces with advocates of devolution.

He said: “The governors of Southwest should individually know that they owe the people of their states the responsibility of protecting lives and property. Let the governors go and attend to the security issues in their areas.

“We have been talking about the decentralisation of the policing system. There is no way we can effectively tackle insecurity, unless we rely on local people for intelligence, surveillance and information sharing. The national policing system cannot be beyond 10 kilometres outside Abuja. The governors must go back to the drawing board.

“Amotekun should carry arms like the Civilian JTF in the North. Security should have local content. The centralised police is ill-equipped.  We need to go local and do away with centralisation. That was how they killed Enron Power Project and Lagos Metrolink line. The governors should rise to the occasion. The centre should devolve power to states. The federating units should start to pick up the powers themselves.”

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