BY STEPHEN GBADAMOSI
Ondo State governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, has said the South-West will challenge the Federal Government for allowing the Katsina State local security outfit to bear AK-47 rifles, while the same is denied the Amoteku Corps in the Sout-West.
According to a statement signed by the governor on Thursday and made available to journalists, the development showed that the popular ‘one Nigeria’ phrase is not real, as denying Amotekun the same right given to the Katsina State’s security outfit indicated an abandonment of true federalism.
He was reacting to videos of local security personnel created by the Katsina State government bearing the popular AK-47 guns, saying the South-West governors would challenge the Federal Government for disallowing the Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN), also known as Amotekun, to have same opportunity.
“We believe in one Nigeria.
But we cannot have one country, two systems. The video doing the rounds showing the equivalent of the Western Nigeria Security Network (Amotekun Corps) in Katsina obtaining the approval of the Federal Government to bear arms is fraught with
great dangers.
“Denying Amotekun the urgently needed rights to legitimately bear arms is a repudiation of the basis of true federalism which we have been clamoring for.
“That Katsina was able to arm its state security force with the display of AK-47 means we are pursuing one country, two systems solution to the national question.
“If the Katsina situation conferring advantages on some, in the face of commonly faced existential threats, it means that our unitary policing system, which has failed, is a deliberate method of subjugation which must be challenged.
“The independence agreement was based on a democratic arrangement to have a federal state and devolve internal security mechanics. We must go back to that agreement,” he said.
The governor said continued denial of Amotekun to bear arms like it was done to their counterparts in Katsina State, home state of President Muhammadu Buhari, would further expose the people of the South-West to organised crime and marauders.
“It would define the action of the Federal Government as a deliberate act to destroy the agricultural sector in Yorubaland. Denying Amotekun the right to bear arms exposes the South-West to life-threatening marauders and organised crime. It is also a deliberate destruction of our agricultural sector.
It is an existential threat.
“We want to reiterate that what is sauce for the goose should be sauce for the gander.
Ondo State government, under the doctrine of necessity, has decided to fulfill its legal, constitutional and moral duty to the citizens of the State by acquiring arms to protect them.
“This is more so given that the bandits have an unchecked access to
sophisticated weapons.
The state government cannot look on while its citizens are being terrorised and murdered with impunity. We will defend our people,” he stated.
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