- Safiu Kehinde
Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has called on the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to reopen the sealed offices of the Western Nigerian Security Network, popularly known as Amotekun Corps.
Adeleke made the call in a statement issued on Friday by his spokesperson, Malam Olawale Rasheed.
According to the statement, the governor demanded the immediate lifting of the ban on the security outfit in the state as he warned against spillover of banditry and kidnapping from Kwara state to Osun.
He gave the warning while responding to a case of kidnapping at Ora Igbomina area of the state.
Adeleke held that the state has been rendered handicapped in its security response as the Amotekun service remained sealed by the police with her top officers in detention without trial for several months.
The governor maintained that the Amotekun service had over the years developed the containment expertise especially in the rural border areas.
He noted that the police’s shutting down of the service operations has created a big gap being exploited by bandits and criminals.
Adeleke, as quoted in the statement, urged the IGP to charge those detained to court and unseal the service. warning that further delay may endanger the rural population and open the state to further criminal infiltration.
“I am taking this matter to the public domain in view of another kidnapping at Ora Igbomina. Closing down Amotekun exposes Osun people to serious risks.
“I call on the Inspector General of Police to unseal Amotekun and allow its operatives to secure my people across the grassroots.
“Those officers in detention should be charged to court after several months of incarceration.
“Any further delay in the unsealing of Amotekun will further jeopardise the safety and security of our people”, the Governor was quoted as saying after a closed-door security meeting.” He said.