Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, has on Monday said the Amotekun Corps will be armed and backed by law to fight back against marauders committing crimes against humanity.
Governor Akeredolu, who spoke at the Passing-Out Parade of Courses 3 and 4 of the Corps in Akure, said the training would be inadequate if the Corps is not armed.
“Those passing out today have undergone rigorous training at great expense to the state. The training will not end here, it will be continuous. However, no amount of training will mask the debilitation of fighting with one arm tied against implacable foes.”
The Chairman Southwest Governor’s Forum emphasized that the passing out ceremony is a reminder of the need to strategize and tackle the current security situation, which he said has been left to snowball into existential crises across Nigeria.
Akeredolu said the incontestable authority of the state must be imposed in the country which is under threat by brazen conflict entrepreneurs and armed, audacious non-state actors.
He asserted that the State Security outfits backed by law whether in Western Nigeria, Katsina, Borno, Benue or any Northern State, must have access to the same sophisticated weapons that the marauders have.
He also vowed that his administration will continue to support the operational capacity of all security agencies in the State, both in terms of equipment and the welfare of their personnel.
Akeredolu averred that the commitment of his administration to the safety and welfare of the people of the State and investors remains unshaken.
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The governor further charged the new officers to do nothing that will soil the image of the Amotekun Corps, adding that much is expected from them.
Akeredolu noted that the current internal security framework in the country is ineffectual, adding that the response of the subnational by setting up their outfits is welcome, necessary, and has become indispensable.
“The Western Nigeria Security Network, Amotekun Corps, as a response, is now not just the first line of defence, but the ultimate bulwark in the protection of a way of life and civilization.
“The efforts of our determined and valiant Amotekun personnel since inception must be underscored, encouraged and highly commended. We must all rise at this time to acknowledge their efforts.
“On our part, we will continue to support the operational capacity of all security agencies in the State both in terms of equipment and the welfare of their personnel.
“The recent donation of 50-fitted patrol vehicles is a testament to our resolve to be up-to-date in fighting crime and criminality because, without a secured environment, there can never be visible and sustained development.
“Without providing the sub-national security forces to be a counterbalancing force we have a crisis which strikes at the heart of the conception and the definition of the state itself. It is not just the definition of the State, the State itself is under existential threat.
“The modern state is defined by treaties. The conception of the modern state beatified by these treaties gives it “an incontestable monopoly of the means of violence, intimidation and coercion.”
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