They made the assertion via a communique issued at the end of a one-day security summit of conference of Speakers of South West State legislatures, held in Ibadan on Thursday.
At the meeting were speakers from Oyo, Ekiti, Ondo, Osun, Ogun and Lagos states
DAILY POST gathered that various opinions have been expressed on the rationale and legality of the new security outfit. While some argue that Amotekun is a welcome development, others said the new security outfit is an aberration to the constitution of Nigeria and the already existing security agencies which are being controlled by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The Federal Government of Nigeria itself, through the Minister for Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami also declared the new security outfit illegal.
But, the South West Speakers who had earlier expressed their support for the new security outfit, unanimously agreed that Amotekun is a replica of Hisbah and JTF which have been in operation in the Northern region for many years.
Chairman, southwest Conference of Speakers who is also the Speaker of Ondo State House of Assembly, Bamidele Oleyelogun in the communique signed and made available to DAILY POST on Friday, maintained that the conference wholeheartedly supports the Operation Amotekun initiative.
He added that Amotekun will go a long way in curbing the worrisome security problem facing the South-West region.
“Among other things, various salient issues bordering on the growth and development of the entire South Western region and in particular the place of security as the ultimate determinant factor for any society to develop were debated.
“After exhaustive deliberation, the conference resolved as follows: That the newly launched South-West Security Network (a.k.a Operation Amotekun) seeks to complement all the security outfits in the South-West and not to replace them.
“That the establishment of Operation Amotekun in the South-West is in tandem with the spirit of the constitution which make the protection of lives and properties a matter of priority for any responsible government.
“That Operation Amotekun is similar to already existing security outfits such as Hisbah and Joint Task Force in the Northern part of the country which had been in operation several years ago.
