Presidency: Amotekun Will Be Run Based On Structures Defined By The IGP

Aug 26, 2020 | News

The presidency has declared that the western Nigeria security outfit codenamed Operation Amotekun will be structured based on frameworks determined by the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu.

This position was made known on Tuesday by Mallam Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity during Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme.

Naija News recalls the Governors of the Western states had jointly created the Western Nigerian Security Network a.k.a Operation Amotekun as part of efforts to combat kidnappings, banditry, and other forms of insecurity in the region.

The presidential spokesperson has now suggested that the operation of the group and other similar outfits will be controlled based on community policing guidelines to be put in place across the country by the Inspector-General of Police.

“Whatever name they go by, Amotekun or whatever, will be streamlined and they will be run in accordance with the structure as defined by the Inspector-General of Police. They will be localised, they will be owned by local communities, they will be managed by them.”

“You know the constitution of the committees will be defined as including council chairmen, traditional rulers, religious leaders, civil society groups and all of that. So, you are going to have a single type structure of community policing permitted all across the country and whatever is not in line with this does not have a place in the scheme of things. That is my understanding.

 

“They can choose their nomenclature, it doesn’t make a difference. Structurally, there is a governance structure for all state and local council policing mechanisms and this should abide in all of the states.

“Mind you, even in the case of Amotekun, there is no law that is regionally binding on the mechanism put in place. Each state parliament put together their own legislation, yes there are similarities in so many ways but it doesn’t take away the fact that each state Amotekun is an initiative of a given state in the South-West.

“Ownership is meant to be by communities, by local councils, by the states. Yes, it is in response to agitations for state police but then it is the answer we now have given all the experiences we have in the country. The N13bn approved by the Federal Government for community policing will be used for training, public enlightenment, and equipment,” Shehu said.

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