- As Kano rejects North’s operation Shege Ka Fasa
Attorneys-Generals of the six Southwest states have put finishing touches to the legal framework for the commencement of Operation Amotekun, a security outfit formed to combat crimes in the region.
According to the details of the agreed framework, each of the Southwest states namely Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti and Lagos will have its own legislation and security network operatives, which will bear the name Amotekun Corps.
Unlike when the absence of some state governors at the inauguration of the Operation Amotekun outfit caused some furore, all the Attorneys-Generals were present at the meeting.
Those in attendance were: Prof Oyewole Oyewo (Oyo), Mr. Oluwafemi Akande (Osun), Mr. Olawale Fapohunda (Ekiti), Mr. Adekola Olawole (Ondo), Mr. Akingbolahan Adeniran (Ogun) and Mr. Moyosore Onigbanjo (Lagos) who was represented by the Director of Civil Litigation, Mr. S. A Quadri.
The meeting, which started around 7pm and lasted for about three hours behind closed doors at Davies Hotel, Bodija, Ibadan was also attended by officials of the Southwest regional think tank Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission led by the Director General, Mr Seye Oyeleye.
Addressing journalists after the meeting in company of the other AGs, Oyewo denied insinuations the meeting could not hold earlier on Thursday as planned because of political constraints.
He said: “Logistics and the challenges of the office of Attorneys-General in the various Southwest states necessitated the change in the meeting day.”
Giving the details of the legal framework, Oyewole noted that the bill will be sent to the various states Houses of Assemblies after it has been seen by the separate State Executive Councils.
He said the operational details and structural procedures will be common across the six states to allow for avenues for operational collaborations.
He reiterated that the security Network is to complement the existing apparatus but would be using the local intelligence, expressing optimism that the bill will not take too long before being passed to laws by the individual states.
The Oyo AG said: “The meeting of the Attorneys-General of the six south west states just concluded and we deliberated on the plan to evolve a collaborative security network/agency in the South-west.
“We have been able to come up with a legal framework to back up such establishment of security network in each of the states. So each of the state will have its own legislation and its own security network corp that will bear the name Amotekun Corps.
“There will be standard operational procedure that will also be in common and there will be an avenue for collaboration between the states to work together.
“It must be stated that the security network will be working in collaboration and as a complimentary network with the police and the security agencies and armed forces.
“We will be depending on our local people because of local intelligence. You can say it is community policing, vigilante but this security system under the name of Amotekun Corp has come to stay.
“The draft bills will proceed to the state houses of assembly of each of the states and will be signed into law by the governors of each state. That is where we are now.
“Today is Friday (meeting day), by next week it will go to the state houses of assembly after it has passed through the Excos of each of the states.”
When asked if the new security outfit will be licenced to carry arms, ammunition and wear uniforms, Prof Oyewo said: “Yes, of course, the carrying of arms is legislated by law and the Amotekun outfit will comply with all the laws of the land.
“We have an operational manual that will also be passed as part of the legal framework for each of the states.
“We just want to allay the fears of anybody that has fears that this is just part of the ways to impact the security architecture in Nigeria, to protect lives and properties.
“We have been emphasising Section 14 of the Constitution imposes a duty, a primary duty, on the federal, state and local governments to secure lives and properties and that is exactly what the states here present are doing.”
Asked if the AGs will write to officially inform the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami on the new development, Oyewole noted: “We run a federal system, as long as laws are passed within the competence of our legislation, we don’t need the permission, authority or even the counsel of anybody other than the operators set under the constitution.
“As I have stated and I reiterate, the law is to establish a security network with Amotekun corps and that is what will be presented to the state houses of assembly and that will probably be passed into law.”
Meanwhile, the newly launched Operation Shege Ka Fasa got a fresh snub on Friday as Governor Abdulahi Ganduje of Kano State declared that his State has no need for the security outfit.
Ganduje said in Abuja that his administration preferred building a strong synergy between the communities and the security agencies to backing the Operation Shege Ka Fasa.
He spoke 24 hours after the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, distanced himself and the Northern Traditional Rulers from the security outfit which was launched on Wednesday.
It is the brainchild of the Coalition of Northern Groups to serve as a counterpoise to the Western Nigeria Security Network codenamed Operation Amotekun.
Ganduje, speaking to State House correspondents, after leading a large delegation of Kano State eminent personalities on a courtesy visit to President Muhammadu Buhari, said the state government had invested so much in security at various levels that it would be unnecessary to consider any other external arrangement.
He described Kano as the most peaceful state in the country currently and has a conducive environment for the security agencies to perform to their maximum level.
The Kano State governor also said that his administration’s free and compulsory education from basic to secondary levels was already addressing the dual menace of mass out of school children and early girl child marriage.
The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, was not part of the delegation, but Ganduje said talks were on to resolve the disagreement between the Emir and the Kano State Government.
His words: “Kano State, being the most peaceful state in the federation. Very soon, we are going to have a community security summit. That is how the communities are going to assist security agencies.
“We are going to come out with a blueprint. Instead of recruiting people into the police force, we are going to build a strong synergy between the communities and the security agencies. The synergy will be from the ward level to the local government level to the state level to the zonal level. It will work because it has been working.
“So, there is no intention to recruit into security agencies in the state and moreover we have introduced ICT into the security operations in the state. We have built a command and control centre where we can communicate with all the DPOs in the state.
“We can see them, speak with them through the cameras. CCTVs have been installed in all black spots throughout the state. We have been monitoring and it is working. We have also installed the most powerful vehicle tracker in the country which operates even beyond Kano State. That is why Kano State is a trap where kidnappers can be arrested.
“Kano State, as of today, is the most peaceful state in the country. There are no armed robbery, no banditry, no tribal conflicts and no religious conflicts. You will recall that those who attacked the Deputy Governor of Nasarawa State were arrested in Kano.
“We have introduced ICT into security administration in the state. That is why we are succeeding. We have full cooperation among the security agencies and Kano is providing a conducive environment for the security agencies, especially in terms of community policing.”
Sultan Abubakar had, on Thursday, distanced himself and the Northern Traditional Rulers from the Operation Shege Ka Fasa, saying traditional rulers in the region were not consulted before the security outfit was inaugurated.
Besides, he said the natural rulers were not in support of the regional body.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Northern Security Monitoring Committee in Kaduna State, the Sultan expressed disappointment at what he called the failure of Northern leaders and the elite to provide good leadership for the people.
Such leaders, he said , were responsible for the establishment of the security outfit .
At the Wednesday launch of the Operation Shege Ka Fasa in Kaduna, spokesman for the Coalition of Northern Group, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, said the security outfit was to protect lives and property in the region.
He said the formal inauguration would take place in the next few weeks.
The group has already procured vehicles and trained personnel in preparation for the commencement of the operation.
It said the Operation Shege Ka Fasa would complement the efforts of the police, the military and the state security services to detect, expose and defeat all criminal machinations and carry out specific and general tasks that would realign the attitude and thinking of the public with the ideals and objectives of the founding fathers of the North.