Malami ordered police to stop Amotekun protest, Yoruba group alleges

Nigeria’s attorney general and justice minister Abubakar Malami has ordered the Nigerian Police Force in the South West to stop the planned solidarity walk for Amotekun scheduled for today, Yoruba Council of Youth (YCY) said on Tuesday.

In a chat with The Guardian, YCY president Oladotun Hassan claimed the police said they were directed to stop the solidarity walk by Malami.

“If anything happens to any Yoruba tribe we will hold him responsible,” Hassan told The Guardian.

He said the protest was peaceful solidarity for the South-West security outfit ‘Amotekun’ that was declared illegal by the Nigerian government.

“We are tired of these senseless killings. From the report I received in Ogun and Osun States, armed police officers are at their respective venue of the protest to hinder the solidarity walk.”

Nigeria’s south-western states, Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Ekiti, Ondo and Osun launched Amotekun on January 9 in Ibadan, as its security outfit to tackle kidnapping and other criminal activities in the region.

The state governors said the security network will complement the efforts of the Nigerian Police Force and other agencies in ensuring the security of lives and properties.

However, days after the launch, the Nigerian government declared the security network as illegal, saying no state or group of states has the power to set up its own security outfit.

“No other authority at the state level, whether the executive or legislature has the legal authority over defence,” Malami said.

He said government’s position against the security outfit is powered by “the provision of Item 45 of the Second Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) authorizing the Police and other Federal government security services established by law to maintain law and order.”

Malami said the South-West states did not consult the government for guidance on the matter.