Amotekun: Southwest Regional Police to Recruit Hunters, OPC Members, Others

Proposed joint regional security outfit to protect the southwest region from kidnapping and other forms of crime is set for takeoff.

‘Amotekun’, the joint security outfit was conceived in July at the height of serious security challenge in Yoruba land. But its commencement was delayed due to hitches in the recruitment of personnel and the need to review operation guidelines.

Tagged: ‘Operation Amotekun’, the outfit is a product of the security summit organised by the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission on behalf of the six governors in June. The summit was organised in response to the wave of kidnappings, armed robberies and other forms of criminality which peaked in the region at the time.

The governors reasoned that a joint regional security outfit was necessary to confront crimes and prevent its continuation. But the security challenge has subsided as a result of individual efforts by the states.

Operation Amotekun will be a two-layer operation – at the central level and at the local level.

One hundred and twenty vehicles will be deployed for the central operation with the headquarters in Gbongan, Osun State on the Ibadan-Ile-Ife highway.

Each of the six states of Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Ondo, Ekiti and Lagos will supply 20 vehicles.

According to the plan, the personnel for the operation will be made up of local hunters, members of vigilance groups specifically hired, men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC).

The outfit will be managed by a regional committee that will comprise representatives of each state. The committee’s office is expected to be sited in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

The police component will be headed by an assistant commissioner of police.

A source close to the project said that the six states are ready for Amotekun’s inauguration. All huddles, it was gathered, have been cleared.

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