Southern governors oppose FG covert operation

The Southern Governors Forum has taken a position on how the federal government should intervene in security issues in any of the southern states.

In a communique issue at the end of their second emergency meeting in Lagos on July 5, the governors of the 13 southern states commended the federal government for its roles in grappling with insecurity across the three southern regions.

But the forum asserted their authority as the chief security officers of their states. They want the federal government to keep them in the loop during covert missions and sting operations by security agencies.

“If for any reason security institutions need to undertake an operation in any state, the Chief Security Officer of the state must be duly informed, the group said in the communique Ondo Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu, chairman of the forum signed.

The DSS invaded he house of Sunday Adeyemo July 1, killing two people, arresting over a dozen others the agency claimed engaged its men in a shootout that lasted for hours.

Oyo Gov. Seyi Makinde was not in the know.

Like other governors who keeps billions in store as security votes, Makinde has been helpless in the face of security crisis bedeviling the state.

Similar to the position is also the problem of selective administration.

“The forum insisted arrests should be made within the ambit of the law and fundamental human rights.”

Among other points raised by the forum are restructuring, state police, rejection of the Petroleum Industry Bill, and others.