Former Governor of Oyo State, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala, on Wednesday said the joint security network code-named Amotekun recently launched by the South-West governors would fail in five states.
He said the appointment of retired military officers as directors-general of Amotekun corps in those states except Lagos State would make the security outfit fail.
According to him, “the essence of launching Amotekun corps was to complement internal security in the South-West states, but appointing military officers to head the outfit is off the mark. Military officers were not specially schooled on internal security management but trained to fight wars.”
Chief Alao-Akala, a retired assistant commissioner of police (ACP) before venturing into politics, while speaking with journalists on his 70th birthday coming up next week, said the appointment of a police officer would have been more appropriate for the security outfit to succeed than ex-soldier.
According to him, the appointment of retired army officers as directors-general of Amotekun in the South-West states may stall the integrity and the effectiveness of the outfit.
“The Amotekun Corp will fail in the South-West states except for Lagos. The outfit is supposed to take care of the security of the people and their property across the zone, but it will fail in every state except Lagos because the right people were not appointed to head it.
“You cannot expect a soldier to head Amotekun successfully. A police officer is trained especially on internal security management. If fundamentally the foundation is weak whatever you want to put on it would be weak. When you have a soldier there, he is taught how to kill. The governors didn’t get it right by appointing ex-military men to head the outfits in the other states.
“If a retired senior police officer was appointed as the head of the Amotekun outfit in a state, the Commissioner of Police in the state would respect him as his former superior. A retired army officer would want to be forceful in his approach. Remember that only the police can prosecute criminals, Amotekun cannot, so they need the cooperation of the police.
“The Amotekun personnel are not armed; they will be successful if they collaborate with the police by calling for support while trying to burst crimes in their respective states and localities,” he said.
The former governor, who spoke on other national issues, hinted about his memoir titled, ‘Amazing Grace’ earlier scheduled for launch on June 1 as part of activities slated for his 70th birthday, but has to be put on hold for the COVID-19 pandemic.
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