Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has called on the Nigeria Police Force to lift the ban on the operations of the state’s Amotekun security service, warning that delays could worsen the threat of banditry and kidnapping spilling over from Kwara State.
In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, Adeleke said the state’s security apparatus is severely constrained as Amotekun has remained inactive while some of its top officers have been held in detention for several months without trial.
The governor stressed that Amotekun has developed critical expertise in containing crime, particularly in rural border areas, and that the police’s closure of the service has created a security gap now being exploited by bandits and criminals.
“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,” Adeleke said after a closed-door security meeting.
He further urged that those officers currently in detention be formally charged to court, noting that any additional delay in reinstating Amotekun operations could endanger rural communities and open the state to further criminal infiltration.
“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 added.