AMOTEKUN: South-West govs lack good intention -MURIC

The director of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), Ishaq Akintola has alleged that only Christians are being considered in the recruitment of members of Amotekun.

Amotekun, a regional security outfit, was recently inaugurated by the South-West governors to assist in the security of the region.

The Federal Government has since banned the outfit. However, some leaders of the South-West have insisted that the local security outfit had come to stay.

But in a statement weekend, Akintola said though MURIC was not against Amotekun, it was against the process of recruiting members of the group.

Alleging that applicants for the outfit “are being requested to bring birth certificates from the church,” Akintola accused the six South-West governors, who are Christians of making efforts to turn Amotekun to a “crusader militia”.

The statement read in part, “Let us make our stand on Amotekun clear from the beginning. MURIC is not allergic to any state or region taking steps aimed at rubber-cushioning the effect of the security challenges currently facing Nigeria. But the approach must be transparent, assuring and all-embracing,” he said.

“We have no objection to Amotekun. But ‘good intention’ appears lacking in the preparations for it as a security unit that will complement the work of conventional security agencies. It appears shrouded in secrecy, while attempts are being made to marginalize Muslims in the recruitment exercise.

“Or how does one describe the social media advertisement in which applicants are being requested to bring birth certificates from the church. This is the most outrageous. Amotekun has not started, but we are already seeing symptoms of Christianisation and Islamophobia.

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“Are the job vacancies which Amotekun is certain to open meant for Christians only? Are the South-West states declaring their state as Christian states? Are they joining Nyesome Wike of Rivers in a Christian enclave? Is Amotekun a secret Christian army? Only one out of the five governors in the region is a Muslim. Are the Christian governors ganging up to form a crusader militia?

“Why then must applicants bring birth certificates from churches? Are we sure that this will not be followed by a request for applicants to bring referral letters from pastors? Handlers of Amotekun owe us an explanation.”

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