By Adeola Oladipupo — Lawmakers in Ekiti State, on Friday, passed the Ekiti State Security Network Agency bill to law.
The bill, sent by the executive arm, passed through the first and second reading after being debated by the lawmakers and presented for public hearing which was conducted by the committee on Security on special duties headed by Hon. Lateef Akanle, lawmaker representing Ekiti East Constituency II.
During plenary on Friday, Honourable Akanle read the report of the public hearing to the full house and the bill was passed.
The speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Rt Hon. Funminiyi Afuye, said the bill would be implemented, rapidly, as soon as the governor gives assent and that the law could be amended in the future if problems occur.
“We have a governor who is an Amotekun himself and we have not passed the bill in vain. So, you can be rest assured that the law will be accorded speedy assent by the governor.”
The passage of the Ekiti State Security Agency bill to law, a product of the Amotekun agitation, makes the state the first in the south-west to achieve this exploit.
The Struggle for Amotekun
In January, southwest governors launched a security initiative — Western Nigeria Security Network code-named Operation Amotekun — to help end kidnapping, banditry, cultism and other security issues in region.
The initiative has since generated controversies. Miyetti Allah Kaute Hore called for the arrest of those behind Amotekun because it was allegedly a plot against the Fulani people and a threat to democracy. The Ebonyi State Government was quoted by a media outlet to have said that the southwest governors copied the idea from the southeast. The comment attributed to the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, by several media outlets that Amotekun was illegal, sparked outrage across the southwest. Mr. Malami later denied that he said Amotekun was illegal. He said he only gave an advice but was misquoted.
To resolve the contentions generated by the security initiative, southwest governors met with Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa. Speaking after the meeting, Ondo State Governor and southwest governor’s forum chairman, Rotimi Akeredolu, said they agreed to “set up a legal framework to back Amotekun.”
“Remember that immediately the noise started, I said that we are going to explore political solution and all of us are here… so we have looked at this solution to it now, both political and legal solutions to it and all of us will do it.”
Afterwards, in Ibadan, the Attorneys – general of states in the southwest, approved the draft bill for the establishment of the Western Security Network. Speaking on behalf of his counterparts, the Attorney General of Oyo State, Prof. Oyelowo Oyewo, said “we have been able to come up with a legal framework to back the establishment of such security network in each of the states.”
However, after a meeting in Lagos between southwest governors and the Inspector General of Police, Muhammed Adamu, to discuss Amotekun, it was disclosed that Amotekun would not be a regional outfit but a state-led effort. Governor Akeredolu said “we have spoken and we want everyone to know that Amotekun was not conceived as a regional police, but a state-based security outfit.”
Agreeing with Mr. Akeredolu, the police boss said, “we have agreed that community policing be infused into the Amotekun structure, so that policing will be initiative of the community members.”
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