All the South-west governors sat and agreed to set up Amotekun, a regional security outfit over a year ago. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu keyed into that agreement on behalf of Lagosians. But several months down the line, Sanwo-Olu has failed to establish Amotekun in Lagos State. Of the six South-west governors, he is the only one still in the dark. When recently confronted with this ugly fact, the Lagos governor gave an embarrassing answer, indicating that there may never be Amotekun in the state. The Lagos governor wants us to believe that the state’s 7,000 Neighbourhood Safety Corps (LNSC) personnel are doing exactly the same thing as Amotekun operatives. He added that apart from community policing, the LNSC also engage in border patrol.
Sanwo-Olu said: “So it’s just a name change in the case of Lagos. I appreciate what my colleague governors are doing, and they also appreciate the peculiar nature of Lagos. I have got over 7,000 neighbourhood watch personnel in Lagos, who are doing exactly the same thing that we have Amotekun doing. They are there at the border post giving us daily report in their localities and feeding it back to the central. They are the ones feeding us with information. But they cannot carry arms and prosecute people.”
Haba! Sanwo-Olu! Amotekun is meant to fight serious criminals like killer herders, armed robbers and kidnappers, as seen from the concept and practice in other South-west states. LNSC is evidently not doing the same thing as Amotekun. The bicycle-ridding and inept LNSC was not set up to fight serious crimes. The workers recruited can’t transform into a fighting squad. They just go about riding bicycles in few neighbourhoods. Some of them have even sold their bicycles to augment their incomes.
Dear Sanwo-Olu, the refusal of Lagos State to set up Amotekun has political tinge. This is the truth that you know. It would have been better for you to deflect questions related to Amotekun than giving embarrassing answers. Responses like that on Amotekun are not good for your image. Those with high regards for you are embarrassed. Lagos State needs Amotekun to stem the rising cases of armed robberies, traffic robberies and attacks by cultists across the state.
Credit: Yemi Adebowale, Thisday