It was necessitated by collapsing security apparatus — Dickson Says it’s a component of restructuring It’s way to go in addressing security challenges —Labour Nigeria can’t engage enough manpower to police entire country Support outfit, Yusuf Ali tells FG
Organised Labour has
thrown its weight behind South West Security Initiative, Operation Amotekun,
contending that such outfits were the way to go for the nation to surmount her
security challenges.
Labour through the Nigeria Labour Congress,
NLC, questioned the fuse over the outfit, noting that Nigeria had no manpower
to police the entire country, neither the police nor the armed forces could
perform magic without the help of non-state actors such as Amotekun. Similarly,
Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, said that Amotekun reflected
in clear terms, the inevitability of restructuring the country. He said
regional security mechanisms such as Amotekun were necessitated by the
politicization and collapse of the centralized national security apparatus in
the country.
Also, Mallam Yusuf Ali, SAN, described ‘Operation Amotekun’ as “legal and constitutional.”
Outfit necessitated by collapsing security
apparatus — Dickson Governor
Dickson said the politicization and over-centralisation of security without an
effective funding mechanism and arrangement for professionalism had reduced
Nigeria to an un-policed country. The governor in a statement by his Chief
Press Secretary, Mr Fidelis Soriwei, yesterday, said he was a strong advocate
of the devolution of policing powers, adding that the issues of control of
policing powers are critical components of restructuring. According to him,
Bayelsa under his leadership has the Bayelsa Volunteers, the State Vigilante,
the Community Safety Corp, the Water Security, all backed by law. He said apart
from other meetings where he led governors of the South-South and Niger Delta
leaders, he has only had two private meetings with the President which had the
Chief of Staff in attendance.
The governor said the meetings focused on the operations of
the Amnesty Programme, (the Avengers Crisis) and restructuring. He said the
South-South would hold a meeting on regional security at the right time if
there is need for such. “No governor of the South-South has made serious
comments on the issues of restructuring, state police, and true federalism. I
have taken the message of restructuring, true federalism and the need for state
police everywhere, even to the doorstep of the President. “I have had two
meetings with the President and his chief of staff. In those meetings, I called
on him to raise the issue of restructuring and the need for the President to
lead the initiative. This South-West Initiative, Amotekun, is a clear issue of
restructuring. It is like the state and regional police that I have been
calling for. “My views on restructuring are in the public domain and I have
taken it to the President himself unlike those who are running away from
critical issues affecting our people”, he said. Dickson continued: “In Bayelsa,
we have our own similar mechanisms such as the Bayelsa Volunteers. I introduced
the Community Safety Corp, backed by law, the State Vigilante Service backed up
by law. “We in Bayelsa have suffered more than most states in terms of the
destabilization from the centre, destroying the fabrics of our security
architecture where we have had about 20 commissioners of police in a year.
“Security is politicized such that crime and criminality now have partisan
colour. People kill and maim and do terrible things without repercussions such
that the refrain is that there is no law in Bayelsa.”
It’s way to go in addressing security challenges — Labour
President of NLC, Ayuba
Wabba, in an exclusive chat with Vanguard in Lagos, argued that anybody who
believes the Nigerian security agencies could surmount the security challenges
confronting the country today alone is alien to the reality on the ground.
Expressing support for the Amotekun initiative, he said: “The security
situation in the country is overwhelming and we must, as citizens play our role
effectively. I can tell you from where I come from the role such
non-governmental organisations play; non-state actors have played and are
playing in the issue of insecurity or issue of security. “Clearly, you know the
issue of Boko Haram, which is from my region, the North East, there is a major
role being played by non-state actors in the security architecture. If we are
to address the issue of insecurity, such groups must play an important role.
“Where I come from, we have the civilian JTF, we have the vigilantes and I can
tell you, as a matter of fact, the successes recorded particularly from where I
come from- Maiduguri, the state capital, the civilian JTF can also take a
substantial part of the credit. We call them Mai Gora. Mai Gora in Hausa means
he that approaches somebody holding a gun with a stick. “I have seen with my
eyes, where a youth carrying a stick pursued Boko Haram person that was
carrying AK 47. I have seen this happen and it has greatly assisted. That is
why I can commend our Governor Babagana Zulum (of Borno). Just last December,
he visited all communities in Southern Borno and all other areas where there
are still Boko Haram attacks. He donated items and also strengthened the
vigilantes. “He told them that vigilantes should be able to protect their
communities and that they should be able to assist the security agents because
they know the terrain, they know the people and should be able to expose all
those bad eggs. That is the way to go. It is also about community policing.
“The Police and military we are talking about cannot do magic. They need the
support of the communities. The communities can support the security agents
through such organised outfits. It is only for government to regulate and
ensure that they do not become a menace. All we need to do is to have such outfits
so that they can complement the efforts of the police and the efforts of armed
forces. “I can talk about every state that I have visited, and I speak based on
information available to me. NLC today is the most spread organisation in the
country. In every hamlet, we have a teacher, we have a health worker, and we
have a transport worker, among others. So, we are talking from the point of
information. “I am not talking from the point of speculations. That is why any
security situation in any part of this country if we speak about it, we speak
on the point of fact. Not the fact that had been twisted, but from the fact
about what is true and what is actually the real situation. The real situation
is that we are far from overcoming the security challenges in our country. I
can say that they are assuming different dimensions in different proportions.
You remember that the issue in the past was just armed robbery. The issue of
kidnapping is now a new phenomenon. Even in my village, in last December, we
recorded cases of kidnappings. We thank God they were apprehended, but it is a
new phenomenon. That has been escalated to cities, towns, and hamlets and even
on the highways. The issue of cattle rustling, armed banditry and theft are
assuming alarming dimensions. We cannot say that we do not have security
challenges. The truth of it is that criminals are devising new techniques every
day to beat our security agencies. So, community policing or being conscious
about security is everybody’s business. Therefore, everybody should play a
role, and that is why I support the idea for us to align those interests with
the interest of the community. “Let us face the facts, there is no way we can
employ enough manpower to police the whole of Nigeria. That I think is very difficult
and the resources are not there. But we can through these outfits, get our
able-bodied youths to actually assist the security agencies. The only thing is
to organise them so that they can be answerable to the authorities. That is the
way we need to go about it because we do not expect people in communities to
fold their hands, watch and see or continue to lament the security situation.
That will take us nowhere.
Support the outfit,
Yusuf Ali, SAN, tells FG
Mallam Ali, SAN, who spoke with journalists in Ilorin, Kwara State capital on the sideline of a special luncheon he organised in honour of Professor Abdullateef Oladimeji, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Al-Hikma University, Ilorin, who has been elevated to the status of a professorship of the institution, asked the Federal Government to support Amotekun. He urged Nigerians not to politicise something that has to do with lives, since it is sacred, saying that it should rather be assisted and supported to ensure that people live in a peaceful and harmonious atmosphere. Ali said: “There is nothing wrong with the formation of the security outfit in the region since it is meant to protect their lives and property. It is legal and constitutional. “Operation Amotekun is not the first security outfit to be floated in the country, and I just wonder why there is so much noise about an outfit that is out to protect lives and property of the citizens. “I was the lawyer that defended the setting up of Hisba in Kano during the regime of President Olusegun Obasanjo. Even some of the officers of the Hisba, who were charged to court, were discharged and acquitted by the court based on our argument that it was not unconstitutional, and up till now, Hisba is still functioning and working well in Kano State. “I don’t see the hues and cries over Amotekun, I don’t see anything spectacular about it. In any event, this outfit exists in many parts of Nigeria with different names such as Vigilante, Joint Task Force, JTF, and so on. “I don’t think we should politicise something that has to do with our lives and limbs and property. Nobody is happy about the level of insecurity all over the place.” On the Attorney General of the Federation’s position on Amotekun, he said: “Law is made for man not man for the law. Even Hisba was challenged by the Federal Government and they didn’t make any progress out of it at the time of its establishment. “We have been told by several people that we don’t have enough policemen to police Nigeria and that is part of the reasons we have problems. I think anybody who wants to assist our country should be assisted, should be supported. The issue of insecurity is very important.”
Source: Vanguard