YCE TO BUHARI: Call Malami, others to order on Amotekun

The Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE) on Wednesday asked President Muhammadu Buhari to check the excesses of the Attorney-General of the Federation, and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, over his recent declaration of the South West security outfit, “Amotekun” illegal.

The security outfit which was put together by six governors in the southwest part of Nigeria to tackle kidnapping, banditry and other criminalities in the region was launched last Thursday in Ibadan, Oyo State capital.

The immediate past president of the YCE, Col. Adeleye Agbede [retd], in a chat with journalists described the AGF’s statement as provocative and unbecoming of such an exalted office.

He urged President Buhari to caution Malami and any other members of his cabinet who may not be at peace with the security initiative, adding that Operation Amotekun ‘’is a Yoruba project and what the governors did had the blessings of every son and daughter of the Yoruba nation.”

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Agbede also described Amotekun as a child of necessity, saying the killing and abduction of several prominent people in Yorubaland as some of the reasons that made the initiative more compelling.

He said: It sounds absurd and ludicrous that a security initiative made to secure the lives and property of the people that voted the governors into power could be declared illegal, whereas the marauders parading themselves as herdsmen, who have been kidnapping, killing, maiming and assaulting our people have been moving about freely.

“The minister would have to tell the whole world the legal instrument that empowers nomadic herdsmen going about with AK 47 without any form of arrest or caution by our security agencies or the Sharia police that are in operation in some states in the Northern part of the country.

“Amotekun has come to stay as an outfit to ensure that our people live peacefully and move freely within our God-given space and as law-abiding people, the outfit will operate within the ambit of the law, cooperate with the government security agencies for as long as our rights are not trampled upon.”

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