Ondo’s security not negotiable — Aiyedatiwa

Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo, on Wednesday, reaffirmed that security remains the fulcrum upon which sustainable development rests, stressing that without a safe environment, efforts to boost economic growth, education, and infrastructure would be severely undermined.

The Governor stated this during the passing-out parade of Batch 05 (BR05) of the Ondo State Security Network Agency, Amotekun Corps, held at the Ondo State House of Assembly Arcade Complex in Akure.

Aiyedatiwa cautioned that no society can prosper in an atmosphere of fear, no economy can thrive where lives and property are unsafe, and no government can legitimately claim success if it fails in its primary responsibility of protecting its people.

Describing the ceremony as symbolic, strategic, and historic, he said the event marked a decisive moment in consolidating the state’s security architecture.

The Governor, reminiscing about the event, remarked that the scene evoked memories of his late predecessor, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu.

He noted that the newly recruited operatives are well-trained, disciplined, and ideologically re-oriented men and women who have willingly offered themselves in service to the peace, stability, and collective survival of Ondo State.

He explained that his administration’s decision to strengthen and consistently invest in the Amotekun Corps was informed by clear-eyed realism and strategic foresight, rather than sentiment, politics, or fleeting expediency.

He said the corps was conceived and has continued to evolve as a community-rooted, intelligence-driven, law-guided, and constitutionally aligned security institution, designed to complement federal security agencies while responding swiftly and effectively to local realities without compromising the Iwa–Omoluabi ethos.

According to him, BR05 represents not merely an addition in numbers but an upgrade in capacity, a reinforcement of doctrine, and a strengthening of the collective resolve to secure every inch of Ondo State from forests to farms and from highways to homes.

The Governor disclosed that the training undertaken by the operatives was deliberate, comprehensive, and uncompromising.

“The recruits were exposed to physical conditioning and endurance training; tactical field operations and patrol management; grassroots intelligence gathering and information handling; inter-agency cooperation and civil-military relations; rules of engagement and use-of-force principles; human rights, the rule of law and civic responsibility; as well as ethics, discipline and the Omoluabi values that define the people”, he said.

He emphasised that the operatives must not only be physically strong but also sound in judgement, disciplined in conduct, and restrained in the use of authority.

Maintaining that the strength of Amotekun lies not in brute force alone but in professional restraint, intelligence-led operations, community trust, and adherence to the sanctity of the Omoluabi ethos, the governor reminded them that they had been entrusted with the authority of the state to act in its name and under its laws.

Describing the responsibility as solemn and sacred, he charged them to discharge their duties with integrity, responsibility, strict adherence to the Constitution, and unwavering respect for the rule of law, stressing that they are not above the law but agents of it.

He urged them to be guided at all times by courage tempered with compassion, firmness balanced with fairness, and vigilance without lawlessness or intimidation.

Reaffirming his administration’s commitment to the corps, the Governor said efforts would continue to enhance the welfare, capacity, and operational support of Amotekun personnel through improved logistics, better equipment, strengthened intelligence coordination, and continuous training.

Aiyedatiwa said Ondo State was counting on them, just as farmers, traders, commuters, students, and families across the state were relying on their service.

In his welcome address, the Commander of the Ondo State Security Network Agency, Chief Adetunji Adeleye, cautioned the newly inducted operatives that they are agents of the law and not above it.

He stated that the corps was deliberately designed as a legal, community-rooted, and intelligence-driven security outfit to close local security gaps, support conventional forces, and respond swiftly to threats peculiar to the state’s terrain and communities.

Adeleye emphasised that Amotekun was not created to rival any existing security agency but to complement them through synergy with the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Police, the Department of State Services, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, the National Boundary Management Agency, and other sister agencies.

He noted that modern security challenges have become complex, asymmetrical, and socially sensitive, ranging from banditry and kidnapping to communal tensions, farmers–herders clashes, and criminal infiltration of rural communities.

According to him, members of BOIA 05 were stepping into service at a critical time, and their responsibility extends beyond physical presence to include alertness, restraint, integrity, confidentiality, and loyalty to the state and its people.

He warned that any act of indiscipline, corruption, abuse of power, or collaboration with criminal elements would attract decisive institutional sanctions, adding that the image of the corps would be judged daily by the conduct of operatives in villages, highways, forests, and farmsteads.

He stressed that the training was structured to produce disciplined operatives, not militants; professional responders, not aggressors; and community protectors, not oppressors.

Adeleye thanked the governor for meeting the basic needs of the corps, including provision of vehicles and equipment, enhanced salary packages, life insurance, NSITF quota for operatives, welfare packages above standard civil service levels, and improved training facilities.