By Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has offered explanations as to why the South-west Security Network, codenamed Amotekun, isn’t operational in the state.
Launched with fanfare in January 2020, Operation Amotekun (derived from the Yoruba word for cheetah) was in response to worsening security challenges, particularly the clashes between farmers and roaming cattle herders in the region.
However, the federal government saw the step as an attempt to create a state police. Attorney-general Abubakar Malami deemed it illegal, saying Amotekun formation “runs contrary to the provisions of the Nigerian law.” It took the intervention of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo before it could finally kick off.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics at the Lagos House, Sanwo-Olu said operatives of the Neighbourhood Safety Corps are doing Amotekun’s work in the state.
“It’s just a name change. I appreciate what my colleague governors are doing. They also appreciate the peculiar nature of Lagos,” he said.
“I have over 7,000 neighbourhood watch personnel in Lagos, who are doing exactly the same thing Amotekun are doing.”
According to him, apart from community policing, LNSC operatives also engage in border patrol.
He said: “They are there at the border posts giving us daily monitoring in their localities and feeding it back to the central. They are the ones feeding us with information. But they cannot carry arms and prosecute people.
“The borders that I have in Lagos are outside of the Atlantic Ocean is Ogun state.”
