Afenifere’s National Publicity Secretary, Yinka Odumakin urged Southwest governors not to back down on the Amotekun initiative aimed at ensuring security in the Southwest.
He was reacting to a comment credited to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami that Amotekun was illegal.
Earlier this month, the office of the Attorney-General released a statement saying “The setting up of the paramilitary organization called ‘Amotekun’ is illegal and runs contrary to the provisions of the Nigerian law.”
But, while some reports emerged yesterday that Malami was misquoted, another statement credited to the AGF insisted that Amotekun was illegal.
However, Odumakin in a statement said: “It’s unfortunate because after we saw a statement credited to Malami that he was misquoted, we thought that they are serious about resolving this matter. If they still insist that Amotekun is illegal, then it is clear that they are not interested in a negotiated settlement on this matter and they believe they can keep us as our masters.
“They have Hisbah, they have an area that has civilian JTF and they are saying that we cannot have our Amotekun. It is not convenient and we have to get to the bottom of this. My advice to the governors is that they must not back down on this.
“We are not going to trouble other people like the way Boko Haram is doing or Miyetti Allah. We just want to protect ourselves and those who live with us. We cannot be vulnerable the way we are for them to be kidnapping us, raping our women, and doing nothing. It’s not an option.”
Meanwhile, Southwest governors had met with the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo yesterday and an agreement to ensure a legal framework backing Amotekun was reached.
