Nation
Insecurity: Amotekun goes to war against terrorists, herdsmen

Southwest states and their security network, Amotekun, seem to have suddenly woken up from a self-imposed security lethargy following the alarm raised by Oyo state governor, Seyi Makinde that fleeing terrorists and bandits from the North west are making their new abodes in the forests of Oyo and other states.
Security activities were revved up soon after the clarion call by the different governors in the respective states and Amotekun was given a marching order at both the state and regional levels to secure the region in collaboration with security agencies, which would provide the firepower in any confrontation with terrorists since they do not carry sophisticated weapons.
In the wake of Gov. Makinde’s apocalyptic warning, the Ogun State government said it had contacted relevant security agencies, including the military and the police.
The Department of State Services recently arrested 10 suspected members of ISWAP in Ilesa, Osun State about two months ago. Last Amotekun said it has apprehended several fleeing bandits in Ondo state and also on the trail of others seeking refuge here.
The arrest came into public consciousness when the DSS sought an order of a Federal High Court in Abuja to detain the suspects for 60 days, an order Justice Emeka Nwite granted.
Also, the Oodua People’s Congress implored all the six governors of the southwest to treat as a security emergency the building of camps inside Yoruba forests by insurgents and terrorists fleeing the North, as it offered to help security agencies tackle the menace.
The head of OPC and a Yoruba generalissimo, Iba Gani Adams, the Are onakankanfo of Yoruba land, said the group is battle-ready to flush the bandits out of the region, saying they are already mapping out a strategy on how to tackle the menace, with or without the support of the governors.
Professor Adeagbo Moritiwon, a political scientist, told Business Hallmark, “The South-West is in danger again because banditry/terrorism in the North-West is unrelenting. The Institute for Security Studies in Dakar, Senegal, estimates there are about 30,000 bandits’ groups in North-West Nigeria with the groups’ numbers ranging from 10 to over 1,000 fighters. The unrelenting onslaught against them in the North is forcing them to come to the Southwest. There are reports of camps in the forests of Kogi, Oyo, Ondo, Ekiti, so the Southwest governments need to support not only the Amotekun, but other security outfits like hunters union, and the Odua People’s Congress.”
“Therefore, the South-West governors should reboot their security operations to overpower the assailants again. Governors can convene a security summit on this.
“The Amotekun officers should be armed with sophisticated weapons and other modern devices. Additionally, the operations should employ technology. Drones should be deployed by police in the forests in the zone to flush out the bandits.
On his own, Professor David Onieatan, a sociologist, said the governors of the Southwest should cooperate to tackle the menace. “The current high insecurity in the region should persuade the Federal Government to reconsider its decision to disallow Amotekun from carrying high-grade weapons. Indeed, there is no better time to establish state police than now.”, he said in a chat with Business Hallmark.
“Monitoring South-West forests should be a 24-hour business and not limited to challenging times. This calls for proper funding and recruitment of more competent hands for results.”
A senior military officer kidnapped in 2023 around Obajana in Kogi State and taken into deep forest for seven days before he was released, confided in this medium that he was surprised by what he saw in the forest..”It was a sprawling settlement complete with generators and other conveniences. I was totally surprised at the audacity of these bandits in another man’s land. They have totally infiltrated the southwest.”
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said that he had consulted with his counterparts in Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Ondo and Ekiti states.
Making this known, his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Gboyega Akosile, stated that the governor, who is also the chairman of the South-West Governors’ Forum, received daily intelligence on the state of security in the region.
“There is no empirical evidence that there are bandits in the South-West but on matters of security, you can never be over-prepared.
“The governor is receiving intelligence reports on different matters and he is in consultation with other governors from the South-West on how best to tackle the growing concern over security issues in the region,” Akosile told our correspondent in an interview.
“If you recall the inaugural meeting of the South-West Governors Forum, one of the major topics raised at the meeting was the security of the region, so they’ve been meeting on some of the ways to checkmate insecurity in the South-West.
Oyo state government, during a recent press briefing after the state’s joint security council meeting, said all hands were on deck to fish out the bandits and use the instrumentality of the law to deal with them.
The Special Adviser on Security to Oyo State Governor, Fatai Owoseni, in a statement by the Special Adviser (Media) to Oyo State Governor, Sulaimon Olanrewaju, urged the people to go about their lawful activities without any fear.
Owoseni, a retired AIG, said with the robust synergy among the security agencies in the state, the bandits and other criminal elements had nowhere to hide.
In Osun, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Security, Mr Samuel Ojo, recently stated that Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration’s support for security agencies has yielded results, citing the arrest of suspected ISWAP members in their attempt to establish the group in Osun.
“The state is not a place for any criminal and that is why they were nabbed at the earliest stage.”
The Corps Commander of Osun Amotekun Corps, Mr. Adekunle Omoyele, said the agency had received full support from the state government, adding that the operatives were motivated and supported to fight insecurity.
The OPC, in a statement by its President, Wasiu Afolabi, on Sunday, urged all the six governors of the southwest to treat as a security emergency, the building of camps inside forests by insurgents and terrorists fleeing the North.
“These foreign Fulani terrorists have always said that after conquering the North, the South will be next. Now it is happening.
“But the OPC is ready to let these evil dreamers know that Yorubaland can never be conquered or occupied by foreign invaders. Let the six governors of Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Ondo, and Ekiti states invite us to deal with this menace today before it is too late.
Given the gravity of the threat to Southwest security, Gani Adams; some security groups including the Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, and the Hunters’ Association, have criticized governors of the region for not collaborating with them to secure the zone last year.