Akeredolu condemns FG for allowing Katsina security outfit bear arms

…IGP warns Amotekun, Ebube Agu, others against involvement in 2023 elections

Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu has accused the Federal Government of bias in refusing to allow the Western Nigeria Security Network Agency, also known as Amotekun Corps, to carry sophisticated firearms.

Akeredolu said that the Federal Government has granted approval to the Katsina State security outfit, which is equivalent to Amotekun Corps, to carry sophisticated firearms.

This is as the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba said that quasi-security outfits established by state governments have no legal basis to function during the 2023 general elections.

While the South West established Amotekun to ensure security within the region, the South East also set up Ebube Agu for similar purposes.

In response to the Katsina State development, the Ondo State Governor complained: “We believe in one Nigeria, but we cannot have one country, two systems”, a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Richard Olatunde read.

According to Akeredolu, denying Amotekun the right to bear arms would expose the South West to life-threatening marauders and organised crime.

The Governor said: “The video making the rounds showing the equivalent of the Western Nigeria Security Network (Amotekun Corps) in Katsina obtaining Federal Government approval to bear arms is fraught with great dangers.

“Denying Amotekun the urgently needed rights to legitimately bear arms is a repudiation of the basis of true federalism, which we have been clamouring for. That Katsina was able to arm its state security force with the display of an AK-47 means we are pursuing a one-country, two-system solution to the national question.

“If the Katsina situation confers advantages on some in the face of commonly faced existential threats, it means that our unitary policing system, which has failed, is a deliberate method of subjugation which must be challenged.

“The Independence Agreement was based on a democratic arrangement to have a federal state and devolve internal security mechanics. We must go back to that agreement. Denying Amotekun the right to bear arms exposes the South-West to life-threatening marauders and organised crime. It is also the deliberate destruction of our agricultural sector”.

At a conference for strategic police managers, which include officers from the ranks of commissioners and above, the IGP said the quasi-security outfits are not expected to be deployed for electioneering campaigns and other electoral processes.

He urged the officers to ensure that their actions and decisions align with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, the 1999 constitution and the Nigeria Police Act 2020.

He asked the officers to be fair to all political parties in their engagement during the election season.

The IGP further said: “We are also expected to adopt a professional orientation that emphasises democratic values and respect for human rights and dignity.

“As critical actors in the electoral process, the credibility of the 2023 general election will be measured by the extent to which we abide by professional and legal standards.

“It will also be measured by our decisions and actions as we interface with political parties in emplacing appropriate machineries to guarantee a peaceful electioneering campaign process.

“We must leave no citizen in doubt of our commitment to national peace and security, as well as our determination to advance the democratic and national security interests of the country,

“All quasi-security outfits that were established by the various state governments and local communities, operating under different nomenclatures, structures and orientations have no legal roles in the Electoral Act 2022″.