Akeredolu says Amotekun will be legally armed
OLUWAROTIMI akeredolu, Ondo State governor and Chairman of the Southern governors Forum, has again said that the Western Nigeria Security Network, amotekun Corps will be armed and be backed by law.
governor akeredolu, who made the disclosure on Monday in akure at the edition of the Passing-outparade of Courses 3 and 4 of Ondo State amotekun Corps, however, said the Corps must be given the tools to carry out its now pivotal, indispensable duties.
He said that the commitment of the state government to the safety and welfare of the good people of the state investors remains unshaken.
according to him, “Today’s passing out ceremony is a reminder of the need to strategize and tackle the current security situation, which has been left to snowball into existential crises across Nigeria.
“The fight back against marauders committing crimes against humanity must allow subnational and regional authorities to have the tools, the most sophisticated weapons available which the marauders already have in abundance.
“Without providing the sub-national security forces to be a counter-balancing force we have a crisis which strikes at the heart of the conception and the definition of the state itself. it is not just the definition of the State, the State itself is under existential threat.
“The modern state is defined by treaties. The conception of the modern state beatified by these treaties gives it an incontestable monopoly of the means of violence, intimidation and coercion. For this reason, in Nigeria, a country under threat by brazen conflict entrepreneurs and armed, audacious non-state actors, the incontestable authority of the state must be imposed. State Security outfits backed by law whether in the Western Nigeria, Katsina, Borno, Benue or any Northern State must have access to the same sophisticated weapons that the marauders have. anything else is a contradiction in terms,” he said.
He further said that the current internal security framework in the country is ineffectual. The response of the subnationals by setting up their own outfits is according to him, welcome, necessary, and has become indispensable. “everyone must be given the same access to outgun the criminals. Without uniformity nationwide, the threat to the cohesion of the state will continue.”
The governor enjoined the Corps to be disciplined and have zero-tolerance to bribery, abuse of power and display of professionalism in the discharge of their duties.