Ahead of Thursday’s inauguration of the South-West security outfit, ‘Operation Amotekun’ in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, the Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, has expressed confidence that the launch of outfit will put an end to criminality in the region.
Speaking with journalists in Lagos on Wednesday, Adams described the initiative as a welcome development, stating that the idea was long overdue.
The Aare Onakakanfo, who explained that the Yoruba have been expecting the initiative long ago, said, “Don’t forget I was one of those that pushed them to do this security summit before they now decided to organise Amotekun.
“I can tell you authoritatively that Yoruba people are happy with this Operation Amotekun, anybody you see criticising Amotekun is either a sadist or such person doesn’t value lives. Anybody that is against this new initiative is an enemy of the South-West, and if anything unfortunate should happen in this region, such a person should be held responsible. ”
Expressing his confidence in the new initiative, Adams said: “Amotekun is not the real state police we are asking for but I just see it as a temporary means of tackling crimes in the South West.
“Ordinarily, we agitate for state police but if we don’t have state police now, something has to be done because state police can bring constitutional issues that may lead to amendment of our constitution. But a security outfit that will be controlled by the state government is highly needed now.”
Speaking further, Adams disclosed that there are information and security reports at his disposal to the effect that forces and criminal elements from Chad, Libya, Mali, Niger, have infiltrated the South-West.
He explained that security threats confronting the Yoruba Land have gone beyond kidnapping and Fulani herdsmen predicaments.
According to him, “When we were young, we only know of certain secret cult groups but today, you have so many cult groups at motor parks, garages and in the streets, that is another major security threat that we have in the south west apart from the external Fulanis that have invaded our land.
“We believe that if the internal Fulanis had not opened the doors to them, they wouldn’t have come in. Amotekun will solve so many issues even beyond the Fulani herdsmen crisis. We also have information that some Yoruba people have connived with these criminal elements and are giving them information as to who and who they should kidnap to get money.”
While commending the South-West governors for the initiative, he pointed out that what they have done is in the interest of the Yorubaland and, therefore, should be supported by all.
“What the governors are doing now concerning Amotekun is in the interest of Yoruba land, so we have to support them. Once this is launched, you will see that within one month, criminals will move back and they will know that the South West is not longer a safe haven,” Adams added.
