A former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, has said the South West will not succumb to the federal government’s decision to stop the region from operating a security outfit, codenamed ‘Operation Amotekun’ to guarantee the security of lives and property in Yoruba land.
Chief Fani-Kayode, who spoke with newsmen on Sunday, in Abuja, said Amotekun was a regional initiative aimed at safeguarding the people in the South West from external forces, adding that no threat or intimidation of any kind from any quarters would stop the project.
He said the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami’s constitutional interpretation that the move was illegal was just his personal opinion.
He asked the federal government to explain why there is Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) in the North East and Sharia Police in the North West, adding that the South West leaders had resolved to stop the incessant bloodletting, raping and killing of innocent people in the region by marauders.
“Anybody that feels that they don’t have to support the people of the South West is mistake. And anybody that believes that we can be in anyway intimidated by stepping down and saying we will not protect our people from those killing is mistaken.
“There is no going back and it is something we have firmly resolved about. We speak as one, we stand as one, we are solidly behind the governors. Every group in the South West is behind the governors. It is across party line.
“Whether you are PDP or APC, it doesn’t matter. The fact remains that those of us that claim to be the leaders in the South West have taken a decision. We will protect our people no matter what it takes, no matter what it cost,” he said.
On federal government’s declaration of Amotekun as illegal, the former minister said, “That is just an opinion by the FG, by the Attorney General. He is a man like you and I. He is entitled to his own opinion. I have been in government for many years and I know that government officials often say things that are often meaningless; that have no substance or basis.
“So our opinion is different. In any case, whatever he says, whatever court says we have the right to self-defence. People are being slaughtered. The leader of Afenifere’s daughter was slaughtered, Baba Olu Falae’s farm raided, he was kidnapped and beaten like a dog, he was insulted.
“Thousands of our people are being slaughtered in the South West and somebody will come and tell us that his interpretation of the constitution is that we don’t have the right to self-defence.”
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