Southwest Attorneys General meet over Amotekun

Attorneys General of the six Southwest states are to meet over the Western Nigeria Security Network codenamed Amotekun.

Our correspondent that the meeting will hold in one of the states on Thursday.

The states are Ogun, Ondo, Lagos, Oyo, Osun and Ekiti.

The state chief law officers will deliberate on the legal aspects of the newly launched Amotekun in relation to the Nigerian constitution and statutory security agencies.

It was gathered that they will determine if there is need to enact a new law to back the outfit in every state or otherwise.

Amotekun was launched on January 9 at the Governor’s Office, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

But it was declared illegal by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami.

He said the regional outfit is incongruent with the Nigerian constitution.

He also pointed out that his office was not carried along in the process of establishing Amotekun.

Since Malami’s declaration, several lawyers have argued that each state should have provided legal backing for the outfit because governors are the chief security officers of their states.

The attorneys general’s meeting is thought to be based on the need for the six states to be in agreement, and on the same page on the outfit to enable the region speak with one voice on Amotekun.

Should there be need for a new law to back it, the chief law officers will agree on the approach with possible suggestions on how to fast-track the process.

Several Yoruba socio-cultural groups staged a rally in support of the security outfit in the six state capitals on Tuesday.

They insisted that Amotekun must not be killed or politicised because it is a community policing system that will help protect everyone living in Southwest Nigeria against kidnappers and other criminals.

The meeting of the chief law officers is coming after several engagements by the six governors as they seek both political and legal solution to the logjam over Amotekun.