Falana asserts laws back creation of Amotekun, Ajibade urges restructuring

A lawyer and human rights activist, Femi Falana (SAN), has supported the formation of Amotekun outfit in the South-West.

He said that though it is the exclusive right of the Federal Government to form Nigeria Police to take care of security nationwide, governors also by law as the Chief Security Officers in their states have the right to provide security for their people.

Falana, who was one of the Guest Speakers at the one-week Nigerian Bar Association (Badagry Branch) 2020 Law Week with the theme: “The State of the Nation and the Nigerian Lawyer,” yesterday greatly lamented the level of insecurity in the nation and said that the law that equips a governor with the power to issue directives to the Commissioner of Police in his state also empowers him to form a security outfit for his people in as much as he does not do this to undermine or work against the Nigeria Police.

He said that the power that the Federal Government has to create the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to monitor and execute judgment on corruption could also be attributed to the states.

Falana, who was represented at the occasion, premised the importance of creating state security on the various crimes going on the country, ranging from extra-judicial killings, kidnappings, armed robbery in some parts of the country, menace of Fulani herdsmen as well as the brutality of Boko Haram.

He said that it would amount to state governors putting the lives of their people in jeopardy if in the face of all these crimes they simply fold their arms and keep looking.

In the same vein, the second guest speaker, Dr. Babatunde Ajibade (SAN), said considering many problems confronting Nigeria, the first question that comes to mind is “What manner of a federation are we running in Nigeria?”

He blamed the woes in the nation on those that brought people with different languages, different cultures and different background together without allowing us to discuss how to enmesh the differences and form a common goal.

He adduced creation of Amotekun and other security outfits as way out of restructuring.