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If Katsina Can Empower Its Security Force With AK-47s, Amotekun Must Urgently Bear Sophisticated Arms, Says Ondo Gov, Akeredolu

ondo
September 22, 2022

According to Akeredolu, the decision is to fulfil its administration’s legal, constitutional and moral duty to the citizens of the state by acquiring arms to protect them following the frequent incidents of organised crimes in the state.

Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has vowed to empower the Southwest security outfit codenamed Amotekun with sophisticated arms and ammunition to fight against rising crimes and criminalities in the state.

 

According to Akeredolu, the decision is to fulfil its administration’s legal, constitutional and moral duty to the citizens of the state by acquiring arms to protect them following the frequent incidents of organised crimes in the state.

 

The Nation reports that Governor Akeredolu’s action comes after a viral video showing the equivalent of the Western Nigeria Security Network (Amotekun Corps) in Katsina, which is President Muhammadu Buhari’s home state, with its security outfit granted Federal Government approval to bear arms.

 

Reacting to the video, Akeredolu said such an action by the Federal Government was fraught with great dangers, adding that if the Katsina State security force could be empowered with sophisticated arms including AK-47s, there is no reason to deny Amotekun a similar opportunity.

 

The governor maintained that denying Amotekun the urgently needed right to legitimately bear arms was a repudiation of the basis of true federalism which Nigerians have been clamouring for.

 

Akeredolu was quoted as saying, “That Katsina was able to arm its state security force, with the display of AK47 means we are pursuing one country, two systems’ solution to the national question. If the Katsina situation confers advantages on some, in the face of commonly faced existential threats, it means that our unitary policing system, which has failed, is a deliberate method of subjugation which must be challenged.

 

“The Independence agreement was based on a democratic arrangement to have a federal state and devolved internal security mechanics. We must go back to that agreement. Denying Amotekun the right to bear arms exposes the Southwest to life-threatening marauders and organized crime. It is also deliberate destruction of our agricultural sector. It is an existential threat.

 

“We want to reiterate that what is sauce for the goose, is sauce for the gander. This is more so, given that the bandits have unchecked access to sophisticated weapons. The state government cannot look on while its citizens are being terrorized and murdered with impunity. We will defend our people.”