The Southwest security agency codenamed Amotekun has established its relevance while navigating tough challenges such as bearing weak arms and a shortage of personnel. Yet it holds great prospects for serving as a platform for the establishment of state police with its strength in community policing and operational efficiency. Southwest Bureau Chief BISI OLADELE, OSAGIE OTABOR (Akure), ERNEST NWOKOLO (Abeokuta), TOBA ADEDEJI (Osogbo), RASAQ IBRAHIM (Ado-Ekiti) and YINKA ADENIRAN (Ibadan) report.
Launched in January 2020, the Southwest security agency codenamed Amotekun, has succeeded in imprinting its name on the minds of residents across Southwest states in the last three years. Though the security outfit had its grand launch in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital on January 7, 2020, individual states could not launch their agency till the second half of the year due to the legal roadblocks mounted by the Federal Government at the time.
With the same name, identity and operational system, the Southwest states of Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti operate Amotekun as a complementary security agency that plugs the shortfall of the police and other federal security agencies. Lagos already had its version dubbed Neighbourhood Watch before Amotekun was established. Amotekun personnel are recruited from the communities they serve to gain deep knowledge of their coverage areas. They know the history, community leaders and other influential people in the communities they serve. They also know and understand the dark spots, the hoodlums and their sponsors as well as hideouts and activities that have the potential to degenerate into violence.
How it is faring:
This idea of recruiting locals and posting them to their local governments has been helping them to nip many criminal activities in the bud and arrest suspected actors. Their physical presence in nooks and crannies of the states has also greatly helped prevent crimes while their ability to quickly respond to distress calls has proved to be a huge plus in crime fighting.
Amotekun personnel have boosted security presence at important government facilities, government events and on highways while they are doing well in protecting communities at night. They have a presence in remote communities that are barely reached by police which strengthens the feeling of protection by residents of such communities. Since its inception, Amotekun has foiled many kidnap operations and arrested several kidnap suspects. Its personnel have foiled many armed robbery attacks and arrested the suspects. They are always arresting suspects carrying out other sundry criminal activities in the five states.
For instance, Osun Amotekun has busted no fewer than seven cannabis farms across the state and arrested over 300 suspected kidnappers, human traffickers and ritualists among others. It also recovered guns, charms and other weapons. Its Ondo State counterpart has prosecuted 600 suspects this year alone through the Ministry of Justice, police and Department of State Security (DSS).
Ondo Amotekun boss, Adetunji Adeleye, told The Nation that the outfit has resolved over 500 cases between farmers and herders since inception, adding that several herders have also been arrested for violating the state’s anti-grazing law. The level of kidnapping and farmer-herder clashes in the Oke-Ogun and Ibarapa areas of Oyo State has dropped to the lowest level since Amotekun began operation in the state. The success resulted in farmers being able to return to their farms. Oyo Amotekun, with over 1,500 personnel spread across different parts of the state, uses the strategy of community intelligence gathering to tackle crimes.
Its commander Col. Olayanju told The Nation: “Amotekun as a security outfit was a child of necessity established about four years ago by Southwest state governors. However, it was operationalized in Oyo State in November 2020. The period coincided with the ENDSARS protest in the Southwest region, which the outfit leveraged to win the minds and hearts of the populace. Since that time, the outfit has recorded several modest achievements to the admiration of the general public within its area of responsibilities.
Amotekun in Oyo State within the last year has recorded successes in areas of maintaining law and order in collaboration with other security agencies. We have conducted several clearance operations with the military in various forests within Oyo State. We are engaged in route protection along exit/ entry routes into the state. We have rescued several kidnapped victims and neutralized numerous bandits in several operational activities.
Amotekun has continued to support the Nigeria Police in the 33 LGAs of the state and actively collaborated with DSS, as well as Agro Rangers to curtail farmer-herder conflict. Additionally, Amotekun has adopted Alternative Dispute Resolution tools to reduce farmer-herder conflicts to the barest minimum in Oyo State. Several criminal syndicates that were engaged in bike snatching, cow rustling, armed robbery, one chance, frauds, rituals etc. have been dismantled and neutralised while some are being prosecuted by DPP in competent courts of jurisdiction.”
These successes have helped register Amotekun’s name in the minds of residents as a relevant and respected security agency.
Challenges:
However, Amotekun is grappling with its challenges. They include the inability to carry the right arms, shortage of personnel and inability to prosecute directly. The commander of the corps in Oyo State Col. Olayinka Olayanju (rtd) posited that granting the power of prosecution to Amotekun will enhance its strength in that proper prosecution helps reduce criminality in the society.
His words: “One common thing in every human endeavour is the presence of challenges in the attainment of the desired objectives. Amotekun, as a security outfit, faces numerous challenges. However, the most daunting of these challenges is our lack of prosecutorial powers and lack of authority to bear sophisticated arms. These challenges have negatively impacted the operational activities in some cases. Imagine, going all out to effect the arrest of criminals, which sometimes results in supreme sacrifice by the operative and all you can do is carry out a preliminary investigation after which you are expected to hand over the case to another agency for another round of investigation and possibly prosecution, if decided by the neutral person.”
The commander of Amotekun in Osun State, Brig Gen. Bashir Adewinmbi (rtd.) noted that the outfit is overstretched with its operations. He said: “We have recorded a lot of successes with our operations but we are overstretched. We need more hands, we are everywhere in the state, we engage in special duties and man more places. We don’t have enough men.
“We have issues with logistics but the governor is working round the clock to tackle this. He has assured us that he will address them as soon as possible. We are not tired as an outfit and we are working with other security agencies to ensure that we get rid of criminals in the state.” Heads of agencies across the region also made it clear that carrying the right type of arms was key in tackling crimes because criminals are carrying more powerful weapons. Amotekun personnel need more powerful weapons to confront the criminals. This will also protect the agency’s personnel from the superior firepower of criminals during operations.
Relevance for state police:
The call for state police has increased drastically in the last 10 years due to surging crimes in the country. In the last 15 years, Nigeria has witnessed gripping insurgency which has destabilized most parts of northern Nigeria economically and socially, resulting in loss of lives and property with attendant sufferings. Other types of crime are also surging. The pressure of increasing criminal activities keeps justifying the calls for state police as a way to bolster the effectiveness of policing in Nigeria. Oyo Amotekun commander Col. Olayanju (rtd) believes that the manpower, operational efficiency and experience gathered already make Amotekun very suitable as a launchpad for state police.
He said: “Given the commitment of members of Amotekun in Oyo State and the support it receives from the state government, there will be a seamless metamorphosis of Amotekun to a state police force if the state police law is passed by the National Assembly.” Similarly, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde revealed in January this year that Southwest governors opted for the establishment of Amotekun after their efforts to persuade the Federal Government to allow state police were frustrated.
The governor disclosed this when he received the Conference of Speakers of State Legislators, Southwest Chapter, led by its chairman and Speaker of Ekiti State House of Assembly, Adeoye Aribasoye, in his office in January. The speakers were in Ibadan to condole with him on the January 16 blast that killed some people and reduced houses to rubble in Bodija, Ibadan on January 16. Noting that it was important for the Federal Government to revisit the matter, the governor alongside the Conference of Southwest Speakers reiterated the call for the establishment of state police, saying it has become imperative to surmount the insecurity challenges facing different parts of the country.
While speaking on the security challenges in the country, Makinde maintained that the establishment of state police was an idea whose time has come, adding that the fears in some quarters that states would not be able to maintain state police are unfounded. He cited the example of Oyo State where payment of salaries and pensions has never been an issue despite the economic challenges in the country. The governor said: “A lot of people may not know that before we launched Amotekun in this state, some of us governors went to the Federal Government and asked to be allowed to set up state police for our various states but we did not get that approval during the time of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“I disagreed at that particular time and still disagree to date that the states are not in the position to maintain state police. I have never seen where the Federal Government went to a particular state and gave the police everything they needed. So, the states are already maintaining the police.” Makinde explained that the police are on the exclusive list, but if that responsibility is split and states have to run their police system, they should have access to resources from the federation account to meet the responsibility of maintaining the police. He said: “So, the issue of being unable to maintain state police will not arise again. Give us the responsibility first and see if certain states will be able to maintain it or not.
“But since we could not get state police, we settled for Amotekun. All the state assemblies in the Southwest passed a common law for its establishment. So, we have to be pushing for state police, and you lawmakers have a role to play to make that a reality.” Also speaking along the same thought, Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke said Osun Amotekun will be integrated into state police whenever the Federal Government approves its establishment. Speaking through the Commissioner for Information Mr Kolapo Alimi, the governor emphasized the importance of security to the administration, stressing that Nigeria is due for state.
His words: “Osun State Government is ready to support the idea of the Federal Government on State policing. Any government that fails to embrace security will spend more to address the issue of insecurity. Our government is ready to embrace state police presented by the Federal Government.“The concern is the existence of the Amotekun after the creation of state police. When state police come, the corps may be fused into it for them to have a common front in tackling insecurity.
“Having Amotekun and state police may create a kind of conflict in discharging their roles in securing lives and property but when the time comes we will know what to do about it. But I am confident that the existence of state police will affect the operation of Amotekun”. With the call for state police gaining more traction even in the northern part of the country, the realization of the dream may just be on the horizon.