Akeredolu signs Amotekun bill into law

• Says outfit will complement police efforts
• Afenifere urges Kwara govt to join

Less than 24 hours after Ondo State House of Assembly passed the state Security Network Bill, Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has signed the bill into law.

Akeredolu, at the brief signing ceremony, which took place at the State Executive Council (SEC) Chambers yesterday, warned against any political colouration of the outfit.

He reiterated that the Amotekun Corps would be complementary and not independent of the operations and efforts of the nation’s security agencies.

“We wish to reiterate that the Amotekun Corps is a child of necessity and was purely borne out of the need to explore other means of securing our forests and protecting all those who do legitimate business within the South-West region.

“For the umpteenth time, the Amotekun Corps is not an independent regional outfit but complementary efforts by the governors of the South-West to engender unity, peace and security.

“Most importantly, the Corps shall not be allowed for political purposes; it has no business at political rallies just as the police must continue to discharge its obligations and responsibilities to the people,” he said.

The governor lauded the state Assembly members for their promptness in the handling of the bill, saying their speed and thoroughness underscored the importance attached to the bill.

Meanwhile, a Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, has urged Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara State to join forces with the Amotekun security project being canvassed in all the Yoruba states of the country.

The pan-Yoruba group made the call after a meeting of its Kwara State chapter in Ilorin at the weekend.

In a statement jointly endorsed by the Chairman and PRO of the group, Lekan Alabi and Adeleye Adebayo respectively in Ilorin yesterday, the group said that “apart from the cultural and linguistic affinity of Kwara State with the South-West states, the ravaging herdsmen have caged many of our communities and subjected them to avoidable trauma, just as it was being done to our kith and kin in the South-West Yoruba states.”