THERE is a confusion over the position of the Federal Government (FG) on Western Nigerian Security outfit codenamed Operation Amotekun, following a recent statement released by Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami and a tweet shared by Laolu Akande, Special Assistant-Media and Publicity to the vice president.
In its statement, the AGF maintained that the FG retains its stance on Amotekun; that it is an illegal outfit that is not backed by any law in Nigeria and will never be allowed to stand.
The Nation reports that Malami, made the declaration in Abuja, in a statement released by his Special Assistant on Media, Umar Gwandu on Thursday.
“No amount of effort to hide the truth will work. People could be carried away by sentimental or emotional inclinations, but the truth remains apparently palpable.
“The bottom line is that the current Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria does not accommodate the formation of regional security architecture,” the statement read in part.
A few moments after the release of the statement, Akande made a contrary statement, announcing that the FG and southwest governors have agreed on Amotekun.
His tweet read: “News Flash: FG, Southwest Governors agree on Amotekun.”
The ICIR reached out to Laolu to clarify the validation of his announcement and as at the time of filing this report, the SSA media of the vice president was yet to respond.
However, a recent report claims that the AGF backtracked on his statement about Amotekun. It was said in the tweet, that the minister of justice revealed that he never said the security outfit was illegal but rather was misinterpreted.
Meanwhile, Bola Tinubu, national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on Wednesday, broke his silence on Amotekun, describing the security initiative as such that is limited in operation, inoffensive and complements efforts of the Nigerian Police.
He denied claims that the Federal Government’s decision to shut down the initiative was targeted to ‘suppress’ the south-west region.
Seun Durojaiye is a journalist with International Center for Investigative Reporting (ICIR).