The formation of the Western Nigeria Security Network Agency codenamed ‘Operation Amotekun’ by governors of the South West states was greeted with optimism and hope, as it was charged with the responsibility of addressing the security challenges facing the region. It’s now 10 months since the outfit was launched. Has the security outfit lived up to expectations?
Western Nigeria Security Network Agency aka ‘Operation Àmòtékún’ was launched on January 9, 2020 in Ibadan, Oyo State, amid fanfare as some governors were clad in leopard skin outfits. Àmòtékún, a Yoruba word, means leopard in English language.
According to the initiators, the security outfit is meant to fight heinous crimes like kidnapping, armed robbery, cultism, as well as reduce farmer/herder clashes among others. In support of the outfit, all the six South West governors contributed 20 vehicles each, with Oyo contributing 33 vehicles to assist the operatives in carrying out their duties. They also procured 100 units of motorcycles each.
More than 10 months after the governors of the region, led by their chairman and governor of Ondo State, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu, met in Ibadan to launch the security outfit, the South West has witnessed increase in crimes such as kidnapping, armed robbery, rape among others.
A frontline traditional ruler in Ondo State, the Olufon of Ifon town in Ose Local Government Area, Oba Israel Adeusi, was shot and killed by suspected kidnappers at Elegbeka area, along Benin-Owo-Akure Expressway on Thursday.
It was gathered that the first-class monarch, who ascended the throne 23 years ago, was returning to Ifon from Akure where he attended a meeting of council of Obas.
The attack on the monarch happened few hours after daredevil armed robbers attacked a branch of an old generation bank in Ode-Irele, headquarters of Irele Local Government Area of Ondo.
Daily Trust gathered that the robbers, who used explosives to blast open the security doors of the bank, operated for more than one hour without any interruption from security agents, few minutes after the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, left the state.
Earlier in the month, gunmen suspected to be armed robbers attacked a bullion van in Ajah, an urban settlement in Lagos, and carted away millions of naira. At least one person was killed in each operation.
In October, Olorunsola Daramola was kidnapped alongside his 52-year-old father in Ekiti State, a state governed by the chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, Kayode Fayemi. While Daramola made it alive, his father was not so lucky as he was killed by the kidnappers, when he challenged them for not giving their victims food after four days in the forest. The young man, who disclosed that they were forced to drink their urine during their stay in the forest, said the family is still looking for the remains of their breadwinner for burial.
Kidnappers, in September, also abducted a retired US military officer, Jide Ijadare, at his palm oil-producing factory located along Ijan-Ise Ekiti road. The abduction took place a day after gunmen murdered David Jejelowo, a director in the Ekiti State Local Government Service Commission in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.
Two farmers, Oriade Wasiu and Rasheed Abimbola, who were abducted for four days in Ogun State, said their abductors mocked the police and collected N3.5m from them as ransom before their release.
There have been other high-profile cases of insecurity in the region and many residents are wondering if the Amotekun operatives are working.
Robbery, burglary, rape, hooliganism rampant in Osun
In Osun State, despite the establishment of the Amotekun Security Corps, insecurity still persists with daily incidences of robbery, burglary, rape, hooliganism and cultism.
Since the passage of the Amotekun bill into law by Osun State House of Assembly, which was signed by the State Governor, Mr Adegboyega Oyetola, the corps has been making efforts to combat crime in the state but it seems incapacitated.
The recruitment of personnel into the corps has not been done. Daily Trust on Sunday learned that the recruitment might be carried out in March 2021.
Those currently working with the Amotekun Corps in the state are members of various local security outfits including local hunters, vigilante groups and Man ‘O’ War. They were engaged on ad-hoc arrangement.
Meanwhile, the issues of payment, recently, caused problem as the local security team complained that they were not being paid.
The Director General of the Amotekun Security Corps in Osun, Chief Amitolu Shitu said the corps would not relent in tackling insecurity in the state.
He said the team arrested many looters in the aftermath of the #EndSARS protest and recovered some of the items looted. He also said the team arrested some secondary school students over cultism.
He admitted that hooliganism and drug abuse is rampant among youths in the state, leading to robbery, burglary and rape.
He however assured that Amotekun would do more in dealing with security challenges in the state, assuring that the recruitment exercise into the corps
next year would be transparent.
Security lapses persist as Makinde gives marching order to Amotekun
Barely eight months after the Oyo State House of Assembly passed the proposed bill for the establishment of Oyo State Security Network Agency otherwise codenamed Amotekun corps, Governor Seyi Makinde, last week, inaugurated 1,500 men to tackle insecurity in the state.
Makinde, who warned the officers never to harass members of the public but to rather maintain professionalism, said that men of the Corps would be posted to all the 351 electoral wards in the state.
He maintained that the Amotekun Corps would work with other security agencies to tackle insecurity in the state.
However, our correspondent observed that despite the inauguration, the security outfit is yet to commence operation in the state.
Daily Trust on Sunday reports that security lapses are increasing in the state as some police officers are yet to return to their offices in the aftermath of the #EndSARS protest in the state.
Our correspondent reports that civilians have taken over control of traffic at major junctions in Ibadan, as hoodlums and robbers operate freely.
Farmers lament in Ondo
Farmers in Ondo State are groaning, claiming that famine is imminent in the state following the invasion of farmlands by herdsmen and their cattle.
Some of the farmers said they took loans to embark on the farm projects and now all their efforts have gone down the drain.
A hundred hectares of cassava and maize farms belonging to Mr Kehinde Ojuolape and Olu Orowa were destroyed in Arigidi, Akoko northwest Local Government Area of the state. Several farmers also shared similar experiences.
The Amotekun Corps has, in recent times, carried out raids following reports lodged that herdsmen were destroying farmlands.
A herdsman and sixty-five cows were arrested by the corps in one of such operations.
One Adamu Yusuf was caught at night where his cows were destroying a farmland at Odoripo community along Oda Road, on the outskirts of Akure.
Although the farmers put the crops destroyed at N5.6m but the cows and herder were released after the payment of N500,000 to the victims.
The corps, recently, arrested some hoodlums who allegedly took part in the looting and burning of structures in the aftermath of the #EndSARS protest.
Commandant of the corps in Ondo, Mr Adetunji Adeleye, said the suspects, who were picked from various locations inthe state, had exhibits linking them with looting, arson and attack on police stations.
Many observers believe that the impact of the security outfit has not been felt, especially with the high rate of crime such as kidnapping, robberies and herdsmen attack in the state.
Last week, some herdsmen attacked the farm of Chief Olu Falae, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, where harvested crops worth millions of naira were destroyed.
The Personal Assistant to Chief Falae, Capt Moshood Raji, told Daily Trust on Sunday that Amotekun operatives were already patrolling the farm.
He revealed that they went after the herdsmen but discovered that they have left their base.
The commandant told Daily Trust on Sunday that with the collaboration of other security agencies in the state, the corps has been able to bring down the rate of crime in the state.
According to him, the ban on motorcycle operation from 6pm to 6am has also helped in no small measures.
He appealed to citizens with credible information to come forward and pass such to them, promising that they will protect their confidentiality.
Unending wait for Amotekun implementation in Ogun
In Ogun State, the State Security Network Agency and Amotekun Corps Bill Law has not been implemented, more than seven months after it was signed into law by Governor Dapo Abiodun.
The bill was passed barely 19 days after it was sent to the Assembly by Governor Abiodun, as part of his administration’s effort to check insecurity in the state.
Stakeholders have expressed concern over the delay in the implementation of the law.
Although the government has not inaugurated Amotekun, another state-owned security outfit ‘So Safe Corps’, already in force, has been one of the security agencies battling crime in the state.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Public Communications, Remmy Hazzan, said the governor would soon appoint the Commander of the corps, adding that the recruitment of personnel into the security outfit would also commence soon.
With the appointment, he expressed hope that effective implementation of Amotekun law would take off any moment from now.
“Everything that is required for the take-off of the corps is presently on the table of the governor. Ogun is closer to inaugurating Amotekun today than it was yesterday, so any moment from now, it may just happen.
“There is nothing delaying it; we are just awaiting the pronouncement of the appointment of the Commander.
“You can be sure that while the issue of the appointment of the Commander is being worked out, all the other logistics are being put in place to ensure that we hit the ground running whenever we take off,” he said.
While residents await implementation of the security outfit, recent reports suggest upsurge in crime waves in the state.
Between April and now, investigation by our correspondent revealed more crimes have been recorded in the state ranging from rape, cultism, highway robbery, kidnapping, murder, armed robbery, theft, among others.
Independent findings revealed that more than 500 suspects have been paraded by the police command for series of crimes between April and now.
Speaking with our correspondent, the Commander of the state-owned security outfit, ‘So Safe Corps’, Commander Soji Ganzallo, disagreed that there is upsurge in crime rate.
“Ogun is relatively peaceful when compared with other states,” he submitted, while admitting that the state is not free of crime.
“We cannot actually eradicate crime in the society. What we can do is to reduce it to the barest minimum. But with proactive actions like sensitizing our people against crime, all of us must be seriously conscious,” he added.
Amotekun not visible in Lagos
In Lagos State, the Amotekun Security initiative was incorporated into the existing Neighbourhood watch through the amendment of the Lagos Neighborhood Safety Corps Law 2019.
Our correspondent reports that prior to the creation of the South-West security outfit, Lagos already has a semblance of Amotekun with the creation of the Neighbourhood Watch which is a community policing initiative.
According to a source, the government decided that instead of coming up with a fresh initiative, it would be cost-saving to expand the operation of the existing Neighbourhood Watch with a fresh law.
Following the amendment of the law, the Amotekun initiative then became a statute under the existing Neighbourhood Safety Corps Law.
According to the state commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotosho, the state did not have any problem with the formation of Amotekun with its already functioning machinery in place which is the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Corps (LSNSC).
However, despite the various units of security, including the LNSC-Amotekun, violent crimes remain on the high side. More so, the petty crimes which the initiative was expected to curb such as cultism, traffic robbery, among others, have been on the increase.
Many residents of the state have raised alarm over the return of traffic robberies in parts of the state. Some of the areas identified as hotspots are Oshodi Bridge, Anthony, Oshodi-Isolo expressway, Costain National Theatre, Gbagada-Oworonshoki – Ketu, Agege Motor road, Ajah, among others. Also, miscreants have taken advantage of the construction works on the ever busy Third Mainland Bridge and Lagos-Badagry Expressway to attack motorists at will.
Following the #EndSARS protest of October and the attendant massive destruction of lives and properties in the state, the nation’s commercial capital is yet to recover from the aftermath and for days, security operatives withdrew from streets of Lagos, leaving the state and its over 20 million people at the mercy of miscreants, area boys and cultists.
The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the state has created too many security outfits: KAI, LAGESC, LNSC, Vigilantes, Amotekun and so on without results.
“What has become of them? Lagosians should henceforth hold them responsible for all crimes in the state,” spokesman of the party in the state, Taofiq Gani, told our correspondent, adding that every street in the state has been responsible for the provision of its own security.
We are determined to keep Ekiti Safe
The Commandant of the corps in Ekiti, Brig-Gen. Joe Komolafe (rtd), said his men are determined to keep the state safe, noting that they are currently manning the borders, combing the bush among others to prevent the break down of law and order.
He said the Amotekun corps in Ekiti State was fully inaugurated on October 20 and the operatives of the corps have not recorded any major security crisis in the state.
