Skip to main content

Amotekun: Doyin Okupe sends message to Osinbajo on security outfit

Doyin Okupe, former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, has written an open letter to the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, over the controversial issues arising from the creation of Operation Amotekun.
In his letter entitled, ‘Letter to the Vice President: Your Excellency, Amotekun and Related Matters,’ the former presidential aide noted that State Police was the best for the country.

Osinbajo met with Southwest leaders on Thursday to find solutions to the disagreement between the Federal Government and the Southwest leaders over the new security outfit.

This was after the National leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC declared that Amotekun was not a threat to national security.

Tinubu, a former Governor of Lagos State, made the declaration after the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, declared the new security force as illegal.

Governors of States in the Southwest said they established the security outfit in order to curb kidnapping, banditry and ritual killings that have thrown the region into panic.

Okupe commended Osinbajo for his timely intervention but pointed out that Amotekun and its likes that would be created by other regions, will not solve Nigeria’s security issues.

“Let me congratulate your government and you personally for your timely and statesmanly intervention on the previously raging matter of the creation of Amotekun as a local and support security appendage to assist the police in protecting the lives and properties of people in the Southwest of Nigeria,” he wrote on Facebook.

“The furore created and the national tension that ensued were unnecessary and preventable. But let’s thank God that Wisdom has prevailed at all levels and what needs to be done has been clearly ironed out amicably by all concerned.

"My worries, however, centre on the inevitable consequences of the decisions reached at your meeting with the southwest governors and the actions and reactions that will likely follow.

“I foresee in the next few weeks that various state chief executives and regions in the country will come up with their own security apparatuses for their own local environments.

“Fundamentally, nothing is wrong with this likely development. However, at this stage of our national development, we must align with modernity and civilisation.

"Instead of creating a motley web of mushroom, primitive, and unstandadized local security outfits nationwide, it will be better if we take the bull by the horn.

“The truth is that THE TIME HAS COME FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF STATE POLICE. Running from this obvious fact is grand deception and a great disservice to our people.

“I am aware that the federal government is seriously considering the establishment of community policing. This project begs the issue.

“It is unitary and therefore, antithetical to the dictates of Federalism. When we have state police controlled by the state governments, thereafter the states can embark on community policing by themselves at their convenience and on their own varied terms.

“For someone or groups of people to sit in Abuja, design and operate a community policing agenda is unacceptable and unworkable.

"Your excellency Nigeria can only make progress if its leaders think less of today and always plan for years and years ahead, keeping away from primordial and primitive considerations and ever willing to divest themselves of powers and controls that will make the society freer and safer.

“Once again, I congratulate you for your achievements so far on this issue of safety of our people and I humbly enjoin you to build on it with courage for the sake of posterity. God bless you and God bless our United Nigeria.”



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Nigerian Military hands over 23 rescued children to UNICEF through Borno State

The Nigerian military has handed over 23 children who were formerly associated with Boko Haram insurgents, to UNICEF through the Borno State government.  The children were picked up during various military operations around the north-east region. Aged between 17 and 10 years, the boys and girls confessed to the military that they have been assisting the Boko Haram insurgents either as fighters or domestic helps in the camps. The Theatre Commander of a military counterinsurgency force, Abba Dikko, said the 23 children were released in line with Nigeria military’s commitment to the observance of human rights. He observed that the children and other vulnerable persons were victims who faced with the highly unstable circumstances induced by the conflict would have had little option but to fall under the thrall of the insurgents.  “We were able to identify this category of people, especially the women, the aged and children to whom it behooves our sense of duty and res...

FRSC reinforces directive on use of google maps while driving

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has clarified its position on the use of Google Maps, The FCT Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Ayuba Gora was quoted saying that driving with the aid of Google map using mobile phones is a serious traffic offence. Gora said this at the inauguration of the 2019 Ember Months Campaign by Lugbe Unit Command of the FRSC in Abuja yesterday. But, FRSC Spokesman Bisi Kazeem making reference to Gora’s comments said the Sector Commander was quoted out of context and his statement outrightly misrepresented. Kazeem said the FRSC as a technology-driven organisation is not and has never stood against the use of Google Maps by Motorists. The statement read: “To state the obvious, we have always enlightened the public on the position of the law on the use of phone while driving. “The statement he made during the flag off buttresses the position of the Corps, which is that any driver who intends to deploy the use of Google Map...

Rihanna confirms she's headlining the Super Bowl LVII halftime show

  Rihanna has confirmed she will be headlining the 2023 Super Bowl half-time show.   The Barbadian singer, 34, announced the news Sunday September 25, by sharing a photo of her tattooed arm holding a football. The post marks Rihanna's first social media activity since giving birth to her first child in May.   The NFL also Tweeted the big news with the same snap and the message 'Let’s GO-#SBLVII' A statement released by Roc Nation founder Shawn Jay-Z Carter, read: 'Rihanna is a generational talent, a woman of humble beginnings who has surpassed expectations at every turn. A person born on the small island of Barbados who became one of the most prominent artists ever. Self-made in business and entertainment.'  A statement from Apple Music read, 'We are thrilled to welcome Rihanna to the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show stage,' shared Seth Dudowsky who is the NFL Head of Music. 'Rihanna is a once in a generation artist who has been a cultural fo...