Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde has maintained that Amotekun remains the only way to solve insecurity challenges in the country.
Makinde stated this while alluding to the fact that some individuals want Amotekun to fail, hence they have been assailing it with all sorts of misinformation.
He stated that the state will not sit idly and watch any Amotekun operative operate outside the ambitions of the law and that it would also not yield to blackmail against the new agency.
He added that the state has identified that there is presently some friction between the Amotekun and Nigerian Police in the state, adding that the state will set up a committee to iron out the frosty relationship between the two institutions and bring about an alignment in their operations.
“Amotekun is not operating in a vacuum. They are a creation of the law of the state. The Nigerian Police is a creation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is normal that we have inter and intra agency friction where possible, but we will get everybody together and seek alignment towards the same end basically,” the governor said.
“For the past six weeks that the Amotekun was deployed, we have seen various reports in the news. Most of these reports are good and a few are bad. And of the bad, quite a number are false information and fake news. For example, some newspapers carried the news that Amotekun killed 7 fulani herdsmen in Ibarapa.
“Such a story was circulated to stoke ethnic tension. Even some reputable media fell for this. Whereas, the real story was that Amotekun worked with the community members, including genuine herdsmen to flush out bad elements in that zone.
“It has, therefore, become necessary to put the good people of Oyo State on high alert.
“Each time you see a news item, you want to ask yourself if it is believable or just some no-good-people at work. I have to tell you that there are people among us that don’t want Amotekun to succeed and they will use lies and disinformation to push their agenda. We must realise where we are coming from and where we really want to be.
“Community policing is the way forward and we have to make it work. If somebody says he is abused by Amotekun and cannot pinpoint the Amotekun personnel in such an area, you are probably not from that neighborhood and you are a fake news carrier.
“So, as I always say, I know we do have trust-deficit between the people and the authorities, and this makes it easier to think the worst of people in authority. But we should not cut our nose to spite our face. We must find a balance so that we do not turn the people trying to protect us to our enemies.”
The governor charged anyone with a genuine case against the members of the Amotekun Corps to come forward with their grievances by using any of the feedback channels put in place by the government.
He equally warned traditional rulers and village heads against allocating lands to undocumented foreigners, stating that some undocumented individuals had been contributing to insecurity in the state, adding that the state will soon provide documentation for these individuals, especially miners and motorcycle/tricycle operators.
“So, we are going to be providing some documentation for them. Those who work in the mining site will be documented and a Task Force is being set up to do this. We will also be meeting with the heads of the association of Amalgamated Commercial Motorcycle and Tricycle Owners, Repairers and Riders Association of Nigeria (ACOMORAN).
“I also understand that they also have a breakaway faction in Oyo State. Well, we will be reaching out to the two of them to ensure that we get them registered. So, this will go a long way to address how some people are hiding under their platform to commit crimes.
“The option is very simple for us. It is either you get registered and we know who are the operators or we regulate your operation. We can say that after 6 p.m., we don’t want to see okadas and tricycles on our streets. We have the power to do that but how does that affect our economy? I personally believe that they are filling a gap. If demands exist, we want them to maximise the gains coming from their operation.
“But if they would not register their people, we will be left with no choice than to just regulate the hours in which they operate. So, I am hopeful that they will cooperate with us by getting their people registered.”
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