Indications emerged on Saturday that the police, army and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps have rejected the planned inclusion of members of the Yoruba groups namely the Oodua Peoples Congress; Agbekoyas, hunters and vigilantes into the Western Nigeria Security Outfit codenamed Operation Amotekun (leopard).
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The operation, billed to be inaugurated in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Thursday, was the outcome of a security summit organised by the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria for the region’s six governors last year to tackle the kidnappings, ritual killings and other violent crimes ravaging the region.
Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, had said in his New Year message that Amoketun would be inaugurated on January 9.
Fayemi said, “On January 9, 2020, the Western Nigeria Security Network known as ‘Amotekun’ shall commence operations in all the six states in our zone.”
A security expert close to the Osun State Governor, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, who spoke on condition of anonymity with one of our correspondents on Saturday, said the government security agencies rejected the plan to work together with the ethnic local militias, saying they were not trained in security matters.
The source, however, said the issue had been resolved as the ethnic local militias would be restricted to patrol within their local government areas to gather information for onward sharing with the government security agencies.
He said, “All the state governors will be in Ibadan for the inauguration this week. After this, each state will inaugurate the operation in its domain. Each state will pay salaries to those recruited into the outfit. The states are still coming up with their arrangements on how to pay and how much among other things.
“The hunters, OPC members and other groups who will be part of the outfit will operate from their local government areas. They will gather intelligence for the government security outfit.
“We are involving the police, army, NSCDC and air force in Osun State. There will be toll-free lines which the hunters and others can call whenever they have information to pass.”
It was learnt that about 120 vehicles would be deployed for the central operation with the headquarters located in Gbongan, Osun State, on the Ife-Ibadan Expressway.
The source further said the hunters, vigilantes and other ethnic groups knew their areas well, adding that they could also adequately monitor herdsmen’s movement into communities or forests.
He added, “Their knowledge will be useful in the operation. The police and other government agencies said they could not be in the same patrol vehicles with hunters, vigilantes and other local groups. They said members of the groups were untrained in security matters and they rejected their inclusion in the patrol teams.
“But those people will gather intelligence and pass it to the police and
