Amotekun: Kokori, Arewa youth leader, PDP chieftain laud South West govs

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5 years ago

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Former General Secretary of National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Chief Frank Kokori, Leader of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), Alhaji Yerima Shettima and a chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Sunny Onuesoke have lauded the establishment of a regional security outfit, Amotekun, the South West governors.

Kokori, who’s a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State, in an exclusive chat with Tribune Online said the constitutional initiative was long overdue.

He described it as “a child of necessity,” saying the heinous criminal activities of herdsmen, kidnappers and other criminal elements coupled with the failure of security agencies called for the establishment.

“It’s a child of necessity. No one can be against it. They kill their people, maim and kidnap them, should they be looking?,” he queried.

The septuagenarian conjectured that other governors, especially from the South South, need not be prompted to emerge with their own outfit if they truly loved their people.

“Everybody will take a cue from it. South South governors have no choice. Did you not hear that Lalong and Katsina governor have lauded the initiative with a view to replicating same in their regions?” he noted.

Kokori said the destruction and replacement of regionalism with Unitarism soon after Nigeria’s independence by the military adventurers has led the country to its current upheaval.

“Nigeria was meant for regionalism. But the military destroyed it. We must revert to that system again.

“Unfortunately the National Assembly has not been able to amend the constitution since 1999. They are not serious. Is there no end to constitutional amendment?

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“The current government has destroyed the labour and the media. The civil society is finished. All they now do is collect money from the government and keep quiet amid maladministration,” he lamented.

Also, the AYCF leader, who spoke with Tribune Online in Lagos, commended the initiative, just as he enjoined the citizens to cooperate with the system to ensure effective operation which he said would certainly bring about a secured society.

Shettima, who also distanced himself from a nothern group that earlier condemned the South-West governors’ move, urged Nigerians to disregard social media insinuations that he and his group were against the inauguration of Operation Amotekun.

It would be recalled that Agbaje northern group, Northern Youths Council of Nigeria (NYCN) led by Alhaji Abubakar had opposed the inauguration of the security outfit, describing it as a military wing of Oodua People’s Congress (OPC).

Shettima said if the federal government cannot put measures in place to secure lives and property of Nigerians, state or regional efforts to secure citizens should not be opposed.

“I am an advocate of Community Policing, if I now come out to condemn the inauguration of Amotekun in the South-West that is counter productive.

“So, I commend the initiative and I will encourage the citizens to cooperate with the system to ensure effective operation which certainly will bring about a secured society,” Shettima stated.

While urging the Nothern Governors Forum (NGF) to come up with a similar programme constitutionally recognised to protect the North, Shettima added that “it is a good thing that even the North-West governors were already thinking along that direction.

Chief Onuesoke, in his take, thumbed up the Amutekun initiative.

According to him, “Of course yes. The south west governors have already set the pace for other governors to emulate.

“Without asking the South South regional governors to do same, I think with the current insecurity situation in the Niger Delta, they need not be told to emulate the South West governors’ approach to the security situation in the country.

“Regional security outfits should be the best that could happen to the South South for now that could cushion the effects of insecurity so long it will not be used to fight their political interests.

“We are almost running a failed security state. Every region needs to invigorate and intensify their local approach to limit insecurity,” he enthused.