The South African Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday appealed to the Federal Government to give necessary support for Operation Amatekun to survive.
The party described “Operation Amatekun”, the new security outfit of the South-West Nigeria, “as a great initiative that requires necessary intervention for timely delivery.”
It made the appeal in a statement jointly signed by its Chairman, Mr Bola Babarinde, and Secretary, Prof. Folorunso Fasina.
The party urged the state governors in that region “to come clean and clear on the operational protocols and guidelines of the outfit and to reveal the whole agenda to the whole country.”
“Now, that it is obvious that the federal police is not capable of securing lives and properties of citizens alone, Operation Amotekun is a great initiative and necessary intervention delivered on time.
“The Federal Government security agencies (military, police and other such agencies) should take Amotekun of South-west and other similar initiatives in other regions as compliments not competitors.
“Since the goal of all these various efforts is for a safer Nigeria, other national security networks should give necessary support to them to pursue this single goal.
“We, however, know the potential of an average politician and a possibility of converting such regional effort to achieve political vendetta or for the oppression of the oppositions, including perceived enemies and labelled persons.
“The governors should go ahead to prove by their words, deeds and actions that the aim of the Operation Amotekun is noble and aimed at complementing security only,” it said.
The party said that the legal backing for the operation must be put in place in each of the affected states.
“States with similar socio-cultural and anthropological identities with the six current states which may want to extend and be part of Operation Amotekun must be considered and possibly admitted.
“The operational protocol and guidance document for the agency must be put in place. Currently, the operation seems opaque and this raises suspicion from other segments of the society.
“The governors of South-western part of the country need to come clean and reveal the whole agenda of Operation Amotekun to all Nigerians,” it said.
The APC in the Diaspora also advised governors in the region to prioritise issues of welfare of the people.
“A situation where a state owes workers in excess of six months in salary arrears, the tendency to devolve into other actions including criminality to earn a living is not impossible.
“If civil servants with meagre salaries and without guns are employed and unpaid, imagine the effect of the employment of thousands of youths, trained in the use of weapons, with opportunities to extort ordinary citizens.
“The Operation Amotekun, as well as the larger South-west community including residents and visitors, must be cared and catered for.
“Training for the local force must have standardised quality and the monitoring and evaluation must be thorough.
“Approximately 30 of the 36 states in Nigeria have one form of self-help group or another and have registered community police with different names.
“It has become a necessity for community policing to be established to complement the efforts of the Nigeria Police whose quantity is largely insufficient.”
The governors of the six South-west states of Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Ekiti, Ondo and Lagos inaugurated the Western Nigeria Security Network codenamed ‘Operation Amotekun’ on Jan. 9.
