The Serving Overseer, Citadel Global Community Church, formerly known as Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has said the debate on Operation Amotekun, is a reminder that Nigeria has yet to address its foundation issues.
In an address titled, “No amount of ringworm medicine can cure leprosy,” which he delivered in his church on Sunday, Bakare said the Operation Amotekun debate showed that the nation could not sweep the foundation issues under the carpet unaddressed or run away from them.
Rather, the cleric said the way forward for the nation was “to travel downwards to revisit the constitutional foundations.”
He said, “When one considers the argument for and against Amotekun, one will find a recurring reference to the issues which we, as a nation, have failed to deal with in past decades.
“The proponents of Amotekun, particularly in the South, justify the move by referencing the Sharia police or Hisbah as a northern version of regional policing. The opponents, on the other hand, particularly from the North, express fears of possible regional political motivations. These are clear indications that the issues we swept under the carpet in past decades are still staring us in the face. We cannot continue to hide under the umbrella of one finger. It is time to address the underlying issues of nationhood and reset Nigeria on the path to predictable progress. No amount of ringworm medicine can cure leprosy.”
Bakare said while it was good that the South-West governors and the Federal Government had ironed out their differences on it, the South-West states would do well to give legal backing to Operation Amotekun, by enacting the appropriate laws.
He said such laws should address “recruitment, screening, training and deployment procedures, as well as seamless tactical operations between the outfit on the one hand, and the conventional federal police commissions in the South-West states on the other hand.”
He, however, said the nation must capitalise on the Operation Amotekun debate to address its nagging foundation issue.
Bakare said, “The agreement between the Federal Government and the South-West governors notwithstanding, we must not let this moment pass by without once again telling ourselves some home truths regarding the underlying issues of constitutional federalism that have continued to confront us. We must not lose sight of the main issue in the Operation Amotekun debate, which is that the current mono-level security architecture has proved inadequate to combat the security challenges that confront not just the South-West but every zone in our nation, security challenges such as kidnapping, herdsmen attacks, cattle rustling, terrorism and the porosity of our borders.
“We must not forget that, while the debate over the legality or otherwise of regional security efforts like Amotekun was raging during the past week, Nigeria was, once again, plunged into mourning with the murder of a chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Lawan Andimi, by regional terrorists. We must not forget the fact that tens of thousands have lost their lives to criminal elements who have taken advantage of the national security gaps in the respective zones of our federation. This is why I believe that, although the efforts of the South-West governors towards taking responsibility for the security of the zone are commendable, our nation needs a more strategically effective approach to national, regional and local security.”
Meanwhile, it was learnt on Sunday that the IG had redeployed the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of zone 11, Adeleye Oyebade.
Oyebade, who was in charge of Oyo, Osun and Ondo states, was transferred to the Nigeria Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Plateau State. He was replaced with AIG Bashir Makama, who it was gathered, had resumed in Osogbo.
Sources said Oyebade was removed for failing to stop the protests in support of Operation Amotekun which held in some South-West states last Tuesday.
The rally, which was called by a group, the World Yoruba Congress, was foiled in Lagos by scores of policemen who barricaded the Gani Fawehinmi Park, Ojota, venue of the protest, preventing protesters from converging on the ground.
The protests, however, held in other South-West States as they recorded a huge turn-out in Ibadan, Osogbo, Akure and Ado Ekiti.
A source who spoke to one of our correspondents in confidence said, “AIG Oyebade has been removed by the IG for allowing the protests in support of Amotekun to hold in Ibadan, Osogbo and Akure despite knowing that the government was against Operation Amotekun.
“The police authorities were not happy that the AIG did not order the three commissioners of Police under him to stop the rally as it was done in Lagos where policemen blocked the proposed venue of the protest. The AIG has been sent to NIPSS.”
But the Force spokesman, Frank Mba, while confirming Oyebade’s deployment said he was sent to the NIPSS to fill a vacancy.
“Oyebade’s redeployment to the NIPSS should not be attributed to any other ulterior motive or primordial sentiments. It should be noted that posting to the NIPSS as a directing staff member is a privileged posting and it is reserved only for officers who are very cerebral and with proven record of core competency in general policy and administrative matters,” he said.
Community policing: We need time to put our act together – Rivers command
The Rivers State Police Command Sunday confirmed that they received the IG’s directive on the recruitment of constables for community policing on Friday.
It said it needed some time to put its act together as far as the formation of screening committees was concerned.
The State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Nnamdi Omoni, added that the Command received the directive from the Federal Government on Friday.
Omoni stated that the police in the state would comply with the directive of the police high command on the recruitment of constables for community policing.
“That directive came on Friday; it (directive) came from the police high command. We are going to comply as directed. It came at the weekend, Friday night. We need some time for us to put our acts together,” Omoni said.
But his counterpart for Benue State, Catherine Anene, said the command said that it had not received signal from the headquarters.
According to her, the command is aware of the Federal Government directive on the recruitment of constables into community policing.
“But as I am talking to you now, we have not received signal from the headquarters until then there is nothing we can do for now”, Anene stated.
The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, had in wireless message obtained by Sunday PUNCH, directed commissioners of police to liaise with traditional rulers in their domains to screen volunteers for constables who would participate in the Federal Government’s community policing.
