Amotekun: Soyinka, Yoruba Leaders Warn FG, Back Govs

By Fola James

Professor Wole Soyinka has lashed out at the federal government over its plan to cripple Amotekun, a new security outfit established by south West governors to fight rising crime in the region.

Apart from Soyinka, other Yoruba leaders and groups across the country have risen up in defence of the governors.

Some leaders of opinions in the region have even threatened to go to court if the federal government carry out its threat to ground Amotekun.

Yinka Odumakin, spokesman of Afenifere, a pan Yoruba group has told the federal government to seek legal action on the matter rather than trying to outlaw it.

The governor of Info State Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, one of the promoters of Amotekun has warned the AGF not to assume the position of the court in the matter.

He told Malami that he lacked power to outlaw Amotekun.

Amotekun became controversial after Malami declared it illegal.

Malami had in his criticism of Amotekun said, the outfit cannot be àllowed to run as a parallel body with existing security forces in the country.

He said the duty of providing security for Nigerians solely rest on the federal government.

While addressing news men in Lagos on Wednesday, the Nobel laureate said the federal government lacked the power to stop the governors from using the outfit to curb crime.

According to Soyinka “This has been the result of the consciousness by the people of this region.phese governors met, looked seriously at the menace, examined its antecedent, they’re elected representatives and they came up with this solution Amotekun”.

Amootekun is a result of meetings to curb menace in the region.”

He  said “now some people who have been sleeping all this time, taking belated actions in many directions, watched the citizens of this nation been decimated, villages been wiped out, farmers been chased off their lands, not merely in the north, but west and all the way down south to the east in Enugu.

They are now coming and telling us that this initiative is illegal, unconstitutional.”

He said the AGF action smacks of suspicion “I consider this enemy’s action, unpatriotic inhuman.”

The body cannot be stopped because whether they liked it or not ” Amotekun has come to stay,” he declared, adding that, “Amotekun is a creation of people about humanity, not about legalism,” he said.

Soyinka, however, urged the southwest governors not to stop at crime prevention but they should also create social action and proactive initiative to end hunger in the region.