Group commends South West joint security architecture

A group, HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA), has commended leaders of South West Nigeria for developing home-made security strategy to tackle the rising insecurity in the country.

The group declared: “other federating units such as South-South; South East; North central; North West; North East should adopt same approach because safeguarding the security of the citizenry and coming to the aid of state institutions such as the Nigerian Police Force and other sister security institutions is the fundamental task of a good citizen. A bottom to the top approach to security and the formulation of security strategy to make the people the owners of the process is the best intelligence gathering tool.”

“We have watched with overwhelming excitement the collective resolve of millions of people of South West origin including millions of other law abiding citizens of other segments of the Nigerian federation doing legitimate businesses in the South West, to collectively restore sanity, security and societal harmony in that part of the country that remains the industrial and commercial hub of the Nation, is highly commendable. We hereby urge governors of other federating units to follow the good model of the South West joint security architecture, to bring about the restoration of security, peace, unity and economic advancements in all other parts of Nigeria.”

HURIWA recalled that the governors of the South West  scheduled inauguration of Operation Amotekun on January 7, a security strategy meant to combat killings and kidnapping in the zone.

The Ekiti State Commissioner for Information, Muyiwa Olumilua, had revealed this on Wednesday, noting that vehicles and equipment for the security outfit were ready.

“We commend the South West governors  who had, in September, after a meeting in Akure, said they would set up Operation Amotekun, following serial killings and kidnapping in the zone by Fulani herdsmen. There is every justification for the establishment of this model security architecture following a relentless gale of armed attacks by bandits and suspected armed Fulani bandits.  In June, gunmen, suspected to be herdsmen, killed Funke Olakunri, a daughter of the Afenifere leader, Reuben Fasoranti, on the Ondo-Ore road.There were cases of kidnapping, including the abduction of a lecturer at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Prof. Olayinka Adegbehingbe, in May, at the Ikoyi/Apomu junction of the Ibadan-Ife Expressway in Ikire, a border town between Osun and Oyo states. We in the organised human rights community are happy that the governors have taken the bull by the horns and are now doing something to checkmate the rising scale of threats to the security of lives and property of the good people of the South West,” HURIWA said.