Governor of Osun State, Gboyega Oyetola, has said that the South-West Security Network codenamed Operation Amotekun is the region’s response to the spate of insecurity affecting its people.
Oyetola who stated this in a statement signed and issued on Wednesday by his Chief Press Secretary, Ismail Omipidan., said Amotekun is a collective action of the region to the criminalities that have ravaged it including armed banditry, rape, kidnapping, and other violent crimes.
Oyetola, in the statement titled “Amotekun: Kidnapping, Rape and Armed Banditry Have no Religion”, noted that the debate that has greeted the launch of the security outfit is “no doubt healthy and welcome development.”
He, however, cautioned that the issue should not be politicised on the altar of religion and ethnicity, adding that it “will be unhealthy, dangerous and counterproductive.”
The statement reads in part: “Amotekun is a collective response by the South West region to the spate of armed banditry, rape, kidnapping, and other violent crimes that suddenly became a past time in the South West.
ALSO READ: Critics of Amotekun are collaborators of insurgents ― Fasanmi
“To, therefore, claim that it is an agenda against a particular faith or adherents of a particular religion is not only preposterous but also in bad taste.
“Kidnapping, Rape and Armed Banditry have no religion and know no tribe or ethnicity.
“For the records, no recruitment has been carried out so far, especially in our dear State of Osun. So, rather than constitute ourselves into opposing a project we all clamoured for in response to existential threats for which some of the governors in the region have been called out and vilified in the past, we should rally support for Amotekun by coming up with strategies to fine-tune it with a view to bridging any communication gap between the Federal Government and the South West Governors over it.
“Section 14 (2) (b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) is clear that the security of life and property of citizens as well as their welfare is the primary purpose and responsibility of government, be it state or federal.
“The State of Osun is committed to protecting its citizens, and every reasonable and responsible Osun indigene must join our collective resolve as a government to protect our citizens and their property,” Oyetola added.