Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka has declared that it is a fundamental right for people to defend themselves against killer forces in their community, adding that that the establishment of Operation Amotekun by Southwest governors ‘has come to stay irrespective of its legality’
The human rights advocate made this known at the ongoing press conference at his Kongi’s Harvest Art Gallery, Freedom Park, Lagos, opposing the Justice Minister and Attorney-general of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, who declared the security outfit illegal.
Soyinka who said he has always believed and passionate about self-policing noted since the federal government has failed in its fundamental duty to secure the lives and property of citizens, it cannot deny people who are ready to protect themselves.
“This has been the result of the consciousness by the people of this region. These governors met, looked seriously at the menace, examined its antecedent, they’re elected representatives and they came up with this solution Amotekun”.
“And now some people who have been sleeping all this time, taking belated actions in many directions, watched the citizens of this nation been decimated, villages been wiped out, farmers been chased off their lands, not merely in the north, but west and all the way down south to the east in Enugu. They are now coming and telling us that this initiative is illegal, unconstitutional.”
“But whether they raise it or not, Amotekun has come to stay,” he declared, adding that, “Amotekun is a creation of people about humanity, not about legalism.”
“So what are our responsibilities to citizens or to ourselves is to take actions against forces which militate against our existence, against our security, against our productivity, against our dignity as a human being.”
“The danger takes many forms as I have already enumerated but where ever the danger strikes, it is our responsibility to do whatever we can to eliminate such danger, not for ourselves individually alone but for those, we bring into this world, for our children, extended family and the family of others who are incapable of defending themselves, the crippled, the handicapped in one way or the other, the women especially in our society who are generally the more handicapped but they also should be involved in this self-policing”