Ekiti state has joined Lagos, Oyo, Osun and Ogun in passing the bill for the establishment of the state Security Network Agency and Amotekun Corps into law.
The House of Assembly on February 14 passed the bill and forwarded it to the governor for his assent after exhaustive points-by-points and clause-by-clause scrutinization of the bill.
The security outfit was initiated by the six South-West governors to tackle the prevailing security challenges facing the region.
Presenting the bill to the governor at the event held at the popular Jibowu Hall inside the Government House, Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Funminiyi Afuye, said the House had fulfilled its fundamental responsibility of making people-oriented laws that would guarantee adequuate protection of lives and property of the people of the state.
Afuye expressed optimism that the bill when sign into law would stem the tide of kidnapping, banditry, armed robbery and other manifestation of criminalities that have continued to constitute hindrances to people’s normal social and economic life.
He said the homogeneity of Yoruba race, in terms of politics, culture and history made the Amotekun gained traction in the southwest region.
” It is clear that the police are overwhelmed, overstreched and overburdened. This is where the concept behind Amotekun stemmed from. I want to also douse the tension and clarify that it won’t compete with police but will complement it”, he said.
In his remarks at the event that had in attendance top government functionaries and traditional rulers, Fayemi warned criminals to steer clear of Ekiti, boasting that “Amotekun Corps will get you wherever you hide”.
The governor said the security outfit would not be politicised but rather strengthen to ensure that criminals within and outside the state had no breathing space.
The governor said the resilience of Ekiti kete and Yoruba race brought the security outfit to full operation, stressing the scenario leading to the formation of Amotekun corps was novel since the advent of democracy in 1999.
