Amotekun: Kidnapping, armed banditry, others do not have a religion - Oyetola
- Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun state is not taking criticisms against Amotekun with ease
- Oyetola hit back at those who politicise the security outfit and argue against it on religious or ethnic lines
- The governor called on all well-meaning Nigerians and indigenes of Osun to support his focus on security of life and property
Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of Osun has urged every reasonable person in the state to support the southwest's security outfit, Amotekun, recently created by the six governors in the zone.
Oyetola also carpeted critics of the idea, especially those claiming the governors have the motive of turning it into a Christian militia.
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) had claimed governors from the zone had a sinister motive for coming up with the security outfit.
The governor, who spoke through a statement by his chief press secretary, Ismail Omipidan, wondered if crimes like rape, armed banditry and kidnappings have religion or ethnicity.
"Amotekun is a collective response by the southwest region to the spate of armed banditry, rape, kidnapping, and other violent crimes that suddenly became a past time in the South West.
"To, therefore, claim that it is an agenda against a particular faith or adherents of a particular religion is not only preposterous but also in bad taste.
"Kidnapping, rape and armed banditry have no religion and know no tribe or ethnicity," the governor said.
The governor also denied claims that recruitment into the organisation was currently going on in his state.
The governor stressed that section 14 (2) (b) of the 1999 constitution (as amended) emphasises the protection of life and property as the primary purpose and responsibility of government, whether at the state or federal levels.
He said, as a result, his government will do all within its powers to secure the state and its people.
"So, rather than constitute ourselves into opposing a project we all clamoured for in response to existential threats for which some of the governors in the region have been called out and vilified in the past, we should rally support for Amotekun by coming up with strategies to fine-tune it with a view to bridging any communication gap between the federal government and the southwest governors over it," he urged.
Legit.ng reports that Oyetola spoke moments after the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, made his position on the issue known.
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Amotekun: Falana blasts Malami, says he has no right to declare group illegal | Legit TV
Source: Legit.ng
