Reps move to give Amotekun, Ebube Agu constitutional backing

Due to the continual breakdown in law and order across the country, the House of Representatives is seeking to legalise the establishment of security outfits at the subnational level across the country.

The lawmakers voiced their support for this initiative during a debate on the bill which seeks to amend the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) with a view to giving legal backing to State Security Outfits to complement the Nigeria Police Force; and for related matters.

Honourable Oberuakpefe Anthony Afe sponsored the bill, which scaled through Second Reading during plenary on Wednesday.

According to Afe, the bill seeks to provide community security outfits to assist the Nigerian Police in different communities of Nigeria as the pockets of violence seem to have overwhelmed and overstretched the police personnel.

“The security needs of Nigeria cannot be left to measures that have proven to have less effect and many challenges.

“Therefore. the House needs to rise to the challenge using the legal and legislative backing of the constitution review for the benefit of Nigerians,” he noted.

The bill was voted, passed for the second reading, and referred to Special Ad-hoc Committee on the Constitution Review.

Ripples Nigeria had reported that Governors in the South-West launched operation Amotekun on Thursday, January 9, 2019, in Ibadan.

Read also: Amotekun arrests, evicts 42 Fulani men whose arrival in Ondo community heightened anxiety

Speaking at the occasion, Fayemi said that Amotekun was not a duplication or replacement for the Nigerian Police.

He said: “Amotekun is a complement that will give our people confidence that they are being looked after by those they elected into office.

“So, we do not want this to create fear in the mind of anybody as we are not creating a regional police force and are fully aware of the steps we must take to have state police”.

In a similar vein, the South-East governors in April launched Ebube Agu in order to redress the volatile security situation in the region.

The South-East governors and heads of security agencies in the region in a communiqué issued after a security summit held in Owerri, Imo State capital agreed to maintain the joint security outfit.

According to the communiqué, the governors “strongly and unequivocally condemn terrorism and banditry in any part of Nigeria, particularly in the Southeast.

“That a committee made up of security personnel, government officials and relevant stakeholders be set up to coordinate and monitor the implementation of the South-East joint security platform”, the document reads.

By Mayowa Oladeji…

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