Amotekun to run as state outfit as South-west governors, IGP agree on its framework

After a series of arguments on the legality and operation of Operation Amotekun, the Federal Government and South-West governors have come to an agreement on the security outfit and its framework.

The FG represented by the Inspector General of Police, Muhammed Adamu and the six governors in the region had a meeting behind closed doors at the Banquet Hall of the Lagos State Government in Alausa on Thursday, February 13, 2020.

At the end of the meeting, the governors and the IGP agreed that Amotekun should run as state-led effort and not a regional security outfit as earlier proposed.

Quoting the IGP, a statement by Jubril Gawat, the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the Lagos State Governor on New Media said, “the representatives of each state okayed the framework of Operation Amotekun, but initiative will not be run as a regional security operations, as initially suggested. It will be a state-led effort.”

“Also, the meeting ratified community policing model proposed by the IGP and the initiative would be complementing Operation Amotekun and conventional police operations in all local communities”, he added.

As agreed upon by South-West governors and the Inspector General of Police, Muhammed Adamu, Operation Amotekun is no longer a regional outfit. (TheCable) Pulse Nigeria

Speaking on the outcome of the meeting, Ondo state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu said, “The Governors of Southwest and the IGP have held a very fruitful discussion and it is clear now to all of us that, community policing, which the Nigeria Police is anchoring is one that will benefit all of us.

“We have chosen that we will embrace community in its entirety. “In addition, we have spoken and we want everyone to know that, Amotekun was not conceived as a regional police, but a state-based security outfit.

We have come out of this meeting happy and we have agreed on the resolution. We have shed lights on dark areas and we are on the same page with the police with respect to these issues.”

Buttressing Akeredolu’s statement, Adamu said the participants at the meeting had fine-tuned Operation Amotekun and adopted it to be state-led initiative and not regional.