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NEWS EXPRESS is Nigeria’s leading online newspaper. Published by Africa’s international award-winning journalist, Mr. Isaac Umunna, NEWS EXPRESS is Nigeria’s first truly professional online daily newspaper. It is published from Lagos, Nigeria’s economic and media hub, and has a provision for occasional special print editions. Thanks to our vast network of sources and dedicated team of professional journalists and contributors spread across Nigeria and overseas, NEWS EXPRESS has become synonymous with newsbreaks and exclusive stories from around the world.
Gov Rotimi Akeredolu
The Chairman of the South-West Governors’ Forum, Rotimi Akeredolu, has said the region’s security outfit, Operation Amotekun, will kick off any moment from now.
The Ondo State Governor, who spoke through his Special Adviser on Security Matters, Alhaji Jimoh Dojumo, said this after the meeting betweenSouth-West governors andVice-PresidentYemi Osinbajoin Abuja on Thursday.
He said, “As it is now, we are good to go; any moment from now the operation will kick off. We are commencing our recruitment any moment from nowin line withgovernment position.
He also said they wouldsend a bill to theHouse of Assembly to begin legislative work on the outfit.
Akeredolu said, “We have involved the House of Assembly andthe Attorney General is also involved. We will send the bill very soon. That is what wediscussed in our meeting in Ibadan and we have concluded that everything will be in line with the community policing arrangement.”
We must restructure, present system isn’t working – Akerodolu
Akerodolu had earlier said Nigeria must be restructured to secure its borders and attain its full potential.
He said the issue wasbeyond Ametokun.
Akerodolu said this in an interview withreporters in Abuja on Friday.
The Ondo StateGovernor restatedthe forumand theAll Progressives Congress’ commitment to restructuring.
He said, “We are committed to restructuring this country, we are not saying it because of Ametokun. This country must be restructured and we have saiditopenly. The APC has it in its constitution and part of our manifesto. Restructuring was stated clearly, that we will do it, why we have not done it, nobody knows but we have to.
“There have been some efforts torestructure(the country) and we can give credit to those whohave been makingsome efforts at restructuring in one way or another. For us, restructuring is not something we can compromise because that is the only way for this country; we must restructure, we cannot continue this way.
“Everybody musthavea sense of belonging and the only way is for us to carry out this restructuring.”
Akerodolu said itwas not true thatthe regionwasplanning to secede, hence Amotekun.
He said the regional outfit was designed to assist states share cost as well as information to secure the life and property.
Akeredolu confirmed that the Attorneys General of all the sixstates in the Amotekun project were meeting to fashion out the legal framework to support its operations after which each state is expected to domesticate it.
He said, “It is not a single command structure, each state will have its own and we can now reach each other and we share cost of very expensive equipment.
“We are talking about trackers that go for about N400m to N500m and I said, why don’t I put N250m and Ekiti put N250m and we use one. Oyo and Osun can share, Lagos is big they can buy their own, those of us who don’t have much can share.”
He added, “When people say we don’t like state police, I laugh. Why won’t we have state police¬¬? We cannot have the command in Abuja to cover the whole country, the current system is not working, some of us have said we have to devolve to the states.”
On training, Akerodolu said, “…luckily, most of these men will be trained by the police.”
South-West Attorneys General meet, begin process to enact Amotekun law
Meanwhile, the Attorneys General of the six South-West statesmet in Ibadan on Thursdayto discussthedrafting of a billbacking the setting up ofOperation Amotekun by the governors, Saturday PUNCH has learnt.
One of our correspondents learnt that themeetingwas arranged to ensure thatthe proposed billwasnot in conflict with the constitution.
It was learnt that while the Speakers of theHouses of Assemblyin the six states were meeting with their Majority Leaders, the commissioners for justice were also holding a separate meetingto brainstorm ideas to provide legal framework for the security outfit.
The meetings were held almost at the same time Vice-President Yemi Osinbajomet with the six governors from the zone in Abuja.
At Osinbajo’s meeting with thegovernors were the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami; and Inspector-General of Police, Mr Mohammed Adamu.
Malami, who had earlier been quoted to have declaredAmotekun as illegal, refusedtocommenton their meeting.
However, he said‘‘We are on the same page.’’
He also said he was misquoted and that he never declared the outfit illegal.
Malami said on Radio Nigeria Abuja on Thursday he only said Amotekun should be backed by law.
Sources close to the meeting by the attorneys-general’s told one of our correspondents that the AGs would brief the governors on what they arrived at the meeting.
The source said, “Our meeting was attended by the attorneys general and commissioners of justice of the six states.
‘‘At the meeting, issues on the processes that would lead to the early passage ofthe bill to give legal backing to Amotekun was discussed. We also discussed what the contents of the bill would be and how long it would take.
‘‘The meeting also looked at the contents of the statement earlier released by Malami on the workability and otherwise of the outfit.
‘‘Of course, we did not think of abandoning it. We have passed that stage. What we looked at was how to have a uniform legislation that would cover logistics, funding, uniform, operation, accommodation, recruitment, collaboration with other security outfits and other essential things that would guide its activities and operation.
‘We are not establishing another security outfit that will rival maybe the police or the army.Rather, what we want to do is in tandem with the spirit of community policing that has been explained by the President (Major General Muhammadu Buhari) and the police.
‘‘Though each attorney general is expected to brief their governors,there is a possibility that the governors willhost the commissioners of justiceto havea holistic view of their discussion in Ibadan.’’
Meanwhile, the Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly, Funminiyi Afuye, confirmed on Friday that South-West lawmakers and attorneys general had begun the process of enacting the Amotekun law.
Afuye said, “The meeting between the governors and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo is a prelude to resolving whatever grey areas.
“The Conference of South-West State Speakers met on Thursday and gave its supportfor the establishment of Amotekun. Thenext stage is the legal framework process andlegislative framework.
“The attorneys generalalso met on Thursday and all of us (speakers and AGs) are on the same page in the process of enacting an enabling law forAmotekun. Things appear to be taking shape and the legislative process will be followed in trying to get the legislative framework forAmotekun.”
The Ekiti State AG, Mr Wale Fapohunda, who corroborated the Speaker, said, “The good thing is that we (speakers and AGs) are working together. While we were meeting in Ibadan on Thursday, the speakers were also meeting. We have agreed on the expediency of the matter and our people are waiting, we have an expectant population in the South-West.”
Fapohunda added, “We have identified Ogun and Lagos states for the legal framework. Once we get the briefings from the Abuja meeting, we will take off from there. We are meeting in the next one or two weeks.
“For us in Ekiti State, from this weekend, we are going to startputting our own law together and definitely by Monday, our own idea of what the legal framework should be like will be ready to be shared with others and others will bring theirs.
“Whatever we agree on must meet constitutional requirements and at the same time meet the aspiration of our people for enhanced security.”
We’ll provide legislative support – Speakers
Meanwhile, South-West lawmakers have pledged to give Amotekun legal backing.
They made the pledge at the meeting of South-West Speakers in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
They spoke in Abuja on Thursday at their meeting with the theme, ‘The imperative of Western Nigerian Security Network (Operation Amotekun): Legislative Support for the initiative’.
The Speakers at the meeting were Adebo Ogundoyin (Oyo); Funminiyi Afuye (Ekiti), Bamidele Oleyelogun(Ondo), Taiwo Oluomo(Ogun), Timothy Owoeye (Osun) and Mudashiru Obasa(Lagos).
The Majority Leaders of the six houses of Assembly and representatives of DAWN Commission also attended the meeting.
The Chairman ofthe South-West Conference of Speakers, Bamidele Oleyelogun, praised the courage of the six governors ‘‘for their pro-active step in combating the rising threats to the safetyof life and property of residents of the region”.
Oleyelogun, who said the security agencieshadbeen overstressed, added thatAmotekun would be a blessing to all, including the conventional security agencies.
TheSpeaker of theOyo State House of Assembly, Adebo Ogundoyin, said the meeting was an opportunity for themto support the governors.
He said, “The enthusiasm shown by my colleagues in giving legislative strengthand supportfor Amotekun is overwhelming and will assist the conference in achieving more successesfor the zone in other critical sectors.
“As for those who are unnecessarily agitated because of the new outfit, let me say without fear or favour that the squad will work with other security agencies to ensure their activities are within the ambit of the law.’’
Ogundoyin also said Amotekun could be likened to community policing, warning the people against raising unnecessarily alarm on the issue.
A communiquéafter the meetingsaid,‘‘Operation Amotekun is a welcome development, especially in the spirit ofthe existing community policing laws inSouth-West states.
‘‘We have collectively resolved that the issue of security as it is in the region especially, and the country as a whole, can no longer continue to be handled with kid gloves.
‘‘As legislators, we must do our bit to complement the efforts of our governors through legislation that will give legal strength to the security force.’’
Yoruba senators will support govs on Amotekun - Akinyelure
Also, the South-West caucus in the Senate will support plans by the governors to ensure the success ofAmotekun.
The representative ofOndo Central in the Senate,Ayo Akinyelure,made the pledgeon Friday in an interview with one of our correspondents.
Akinyelure, who noted that the governors did not consultlegislators from the zone in the National Assembly before coming up withAmotekun, however, described the outfit as a good initiative.
He commended the governors, DAWN Commissionand others who contributed to the formation of the outfit,stressing that it was the best alternative to tackling crime in Yorubaland.
The Senator appealed to the governors andDAWN Commission to ensure that Amotekun gotlegalbackingto start operation.
Also, the Kunle Alabi, the Press Secretary to the Speaker of Osun State House of Assembly, in told one ofour correspondentsthatthe state Assembly would begin work on the bill onthesecurity initiative as soon as such was presented tothem.
Meanwhile, the People’s Democratic Party on Friday said it was insupport of the meeting between theFederal Government and South West-governors over Amotekun.
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, saidthey decided to support Amotekun in the belief that the outfit wouldhelp boost securityin the region and across the nation.
Also, traditional rulers in Ondo State, under the aegis of “De 130 Krown Obas”, called on the governors to ignore negative comments about Amotekun.
The monarchs, who spoke through their state President, the Owa-Ale of Ikare-Akoko, Oba Kolapo Adegbite-Adedoyin, made the calls while briefing reporters after their meeting in Akure on Friday.
The traditional rulers also urgedthe Federal Government to support the governors to achieve the set goals ofAmotekun.
According to them, it is only when theoutfit is allowed to function effectively that they and their subjects cansleep with their eyes closed.
Also, the Socialist Party of Nigeria has called for democratic controlled armed multi-ethnic and multi-religious defence committees in communities.
•Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu
We are set to kick off Operation Amotekun — South-West governors
The Chairman of the South-West Governors’ Forum, Rotimi Akeredolu, has said the region’s security outfit, Operation Amotekun, will kick off any moment from now.
The Ondo State Governor, who spoke through his Special Adviser on Security Matters, Alhaji Jimoh Dojumo, said this after the meeting betweenSouth-West governors andVice-PresidentYemi Osinbajoin Abuja on Thursday.
He said, “As it is now, we are good to go; any moment from now the operation will kick off. We are commencing our recruitment any moment from nowin line withgovernment position.
He also said they wouldsend a bill to theHouse of Assembly to begin legislative work on the outfit.
Akeredolu said, “We have involved the House of Assembly andthe Attorney General is also involved. We will send the bill very soon. That is what wediscussed in our meeting in Ibadan and we have concluded that everything will be in line with the community policing arrangement.”
We must restructure, present system isn’t working – Akerodolu
Akerodolu had earlier said Nigeria must be restructured to secure its borders and attain its full potential.
He said the issue wasbeyond Ametokun.
Akerodolu said this in an interview withreporters in Abuja on Friday.
The Ondo StateGovernor restatedthe forumand theAll Progressives Congress’ commitment to restructuring.
He said, “We are committed to restructuring this country, we are not saying it because of Ametokun. This country must be restructured and we have saiditopenly. The APC has it in its constitution and part of our manifesto. Restructuring was stated clearly, that we will do it, why we have not done it, nobody knows but we have to.
“There have been some efforts torestructure(the country) and we can give credit to those whohave been makingsome efforts at restructuring in one way or another. For us, restructuring is not something we can compromise because that is the only way for this country; we must restructure, we cannot continue this way.
“Everybody musthavea sense of belonging and the only way is for us to carry out this restructuring.”
Akerodolu said itwas not true thatthe regionwasplanning to secede, hence Amotekun.
He said the regional outfit was designed to assist states share cost as well as information to secure the life and property.
Akeredolu confirmed that the Attorneys General of all the sixstates in the Amotekun project were meeting to fashion out the legal framework to support its operations after which each state is expected to domesticate it.
He said, “It is not a single command structure, each state will have its own and we can now reach each other and we share cost of very expensive equipment.
“We are talking about trackers that go for about N400m to N500m and I said, why don’t I put N250m and Ekiti put N250m and we use one. Oyo and Osun can share, Lagos is big they can buy their own, those of us who don’t have much can share.”
He added, “When people say we don’t like state police, I laugh. Why won’t we have state police¬¬? We cannot have the command in Abuja to cover the whole country, the current system is not working, some of us have said we have to devolve to the states.”
On training, Akerodolu said, “…luckily, most of these men will be trained by the police.”
South-West Attorneys General meet, begin process to enact Amotekun law
Meanwhile, the Attorneys General of the six South-West statesmet in Ibadan on Thursdayto discussthedrafting of a billbacking the setting up ofOperation Amotekun by the governors, Saturday PUNCH has learnt.
One of our correspondents learnt that themeetingwas arranged to ensure thatthe proposed billwasnot in conflict with the constitution.
It was learnt that while the Speakers of theHouses of Assemblyin the six states were meeting with their Majority Leaders, the commissioners for justice were also holding a separate meetingto brainstorm ideas to provide legal framework for the security outfit.
The meetings were held almost at the same time Vice-President Yemi Osinbajomet with the six governors from the zone in Abuja.
At Osinbajo’s meeting with thegovernors were the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami; and Inspector-General of Police, Mr Mohammed Adamu.
Malami, who had earlier been quoted to have declaredAmotekun as illegal, refusedtocommenton their meeting.
However, he said‘‘We are on the same page.’’
He also said he was misquoted and that he never declared the outfit illegal.
Malami said on Radio Nigeria Abuja on Thursday he only said Amotekun should be backed by law.
Sources close to the meeting by the attorneys-general’s told one of our correspondents that the AGs would brief the governors on what they arrived at the meeting.
The source said, “Our meeting was attended by the attorneys general and commissioners of justice of the six states.
‘‘At the meeting, issues on the processes that would lead to the early passage ofthe bill to give legal backing to Amotekun was discussed. We also discussed what the contents of the bill would be and how long it would take.
‘‘The meeting also looked at the contents of the statement earlier released by Malami on the workability and otherwise of the outfit.
‘‘Of course, we did not think of abandoning it. We have passed that stage. What we looked at was how to have a uniform legislation that would cover logistics, funding, uniform, operation, accommodation, recruitment, collaboration with other security outfits and other essential things that would guide its activities and operation.
‘We are not establishing another security outfit that will rival maybe the police or the army.Rather, what we want to do is in tandem with the spirit of community policing that has been explained by the President (Major General Muhammadu Buhari) and the police.
‘‘Though each attorney general is expected to brief their governors,there is a possibility that the governors willhost the commissioners of justiceto havea holistic view of their discussion in Ibadan.’’
Meanwhile, the Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly, Funminiyi Afuye, confirmed on Friday that South-West lawmakers and attorneys general had begun the process of enacting the Amotekun law.
Afuye said, “The meeting between the governors and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo is a prelude to resolving whatever grey areas.
“The Conference of South-West State Speakers met on Thursday and gave its supportfor the establishment of Amotekun. Thenext stage is the legal framework process andlegislative framework.
“The attorneys generalalso met on Thursday and all of us (speakers and AGs) are on the same page in the process of enacting an enabling law forAmotekun. Things appear to be taking shape and the legislative process will be followed in trying to get the legislative framework forAmotekun.”
The Ekiti State AG, Mr Wale Fapohunda, who corroborated the Speaker, said, “The good thing is that we (speakers and AGs) are working together. While we were meeting in Ibadan on Thursday, the speakers were also meeting. We have agreed on the expediency of the matter and our people are waiting, we have an expectant population in the South-West.”
Fapohunda added, “We have identified Ogun and Lagos states for the legal framework. Once we get the briefings from the Abuja meeting, we will take off from there. We are meeting in the next one or two weeks.
“For us in Ekiti State, from this weekend, we are going to startputting our own law together and definitely by Monday, our own idea of what the legal framework should be like will be ready to be shared with others and others will bring theirs.
“Whatever we agree on must meet constitutional requirements and at the same time meet the aspiration of our people for enhanced security.”
We’ll provide legislative support – Speakers
Meanwhile, South-West lawmakers have pledged to give Amotekun legal backing.
They made the pledge at the meeting of South-West Speakers in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
They spoke in Abuja on Thursday at their meeting with the theme, ‘The imperative of Western Nigerian Security Network (Operation Amotekun): Legislative Support for the initiative’.
The Speakers at the meeting were Adebo Ogundoyin (Oyo); Funminiyi Afuye (Ekiti), Bamidele Oleyelogun(Ondo), Taiwo Oluomo(Ogun), Timothy Owoeye (Osun) and Mudashiru Obasa(Lagos).
The Majority Leaders of the six houses of Assembly and representatives of DAWN Commission also attended the meeting.
The Chairman ofthe South-West Conference of Speakers, Bamidele Oleyelogun, praised the courage of the six governors ‘‘for their pro-active step in combating the rising threats to the safetyof life and property of residents of the region”.
Oleyelogun, who said the security agencieshadbeen overstressed, added thatAmotekun would be a blessing to all, including the conventional security agencies.
TheSpeaker of theOyo State House of Assembly, Adebo Ogundoyin, said the meeting was an opportunity for themto support the governors.
He said, “The enthusiasm shown by my colleagues in giving legislative strengthand supportfor Amotekun is overwhelming and will assist the conference in achieving more successesfor the zone in other critical sectors.
“As for those who are unnecessarily agitated because of the new outfit, let me say without fear or favour that the squad will work with other security agencies to ensure their activities are within the ambit of the law.’’
Ogundoyin also said Amotekun could be likened to community policing, warning the people against raising unnecessarily alarm on the issue.
A communiquéafter the meetingsaid,‘‘Operation Amotekun is a welcome development, especially in the spirit ofthe existing community policing laws inSouth-West states.
‘‘We have collectively resolved that the issue of security as it is in the region especially, and the country as a whole, can no longer continue to be handled with kid gloves.
‘‘As legislators, we must do our bit to complement the efforts of our governors through legislation that will give legal strength to the security force.’’
Yoruba senators will support govs on Amotekun - Akinyelure
Also, the South-West caucus in the Senate will support plans by the governors to ensure the success ofAmotekun.
The representative ofOndo Central in the Senate,Ayo Akinyelure,made the pledgeon Friday in an interview with one of our correspondents.
Akinyelure, who noted that the governors did not consultlegislators from the zone in the National Assembly before coming up withAmotekun, however, described the outfit as a good initiative.
He commended the governors, DAWN Commissionand others who contributed to the formation of the outfit,stressing that it was the best alternative to tackling crime in Yorubaland.
The Senator appealed to the governors andDAWN Commission to ensure that Amotekun gotlegalbackingto start operation.
Also, the Kunle Alabi, the Press Secretary to the Speaker of Osun State House of Assembly, in told one ofour correspondentsthatthe state Assembly would begin work on the bill onthesecurity initiative as soon as such was presented tothem.
Meanwhile, the People’s Democratic Party on Friday said it was insupport of the meeting between theFederal Government and South West-governors over Amotekun.
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, saidthey decided to support Amotekun in the belief that the outfit wouldhelp boost securityin the region and across the nation.
Also, traditional rulers in Ondo State, under the aegis of “De 130 Krown Obas”, called on the governors to ignore negative comments about Amotekun.
The monarchs, who spoke through their state President, the Owa-Ale of Ikare-Akoko, Oba Kolapo Adegbite-Adedoyin, made the calls while briefing reporters after their meeting in Akure on Friday.
The traditional rulers also urgedthe Federal Government to support the governors to achieve the set goals ofAmotekun.
According to them, it is only when theoutfit is allowed to function effectively that they and their subjects cansleep with their eyes closed.
Also, the Socialist Party of Nigeria has called for democratic controlled armed multi-ethnic and multi-religious defence committees in communities.
