Tunde Olusunle
It had festered for long. The wanton trespass, the emboldened criminality, the mindless murders, the reckless disruption of the rhythm of day-to-day activities of several communities in Nigeria’s South West. Formal and informal intelligence, fingered voyaging Fulani herdsmen as prime perpetrators of the crimson regime upon the Yoruba hemisphere.
The pastoralists herded their cattle from the nation’s north, down south. They fed and fattened their livestock on farmlands owned by landowners, with unbelievable impunity. Aboriginal dissenters to such roughshod rides through their sweat-grown farms, were often sent to early graves. Luckier escapees, most times left with scars to last a lifetime.
To confirm that they were on a mission to destroy, maim and murder, they moved around with deadly machetes and sophisticated weapons, beyond regular arms admissible for self-protection, as they rampaged through the zone.
Beyond farmlands in the recesses of the Yoruba country, kidnappers, armed robbers and killers took over and terrorised roads and expressways in the South West, with uncommon boldness. They routinely caused gridlocks on roads like the all-important Sagamu-Ore-Benin highway, in the discharge of their criminal ventures. They would move from vehicle to vehicle dispossessing commuters of their belongings and shooting at random, killing the hapless. They abducted travellers and would subsequently request for ransoms from the families of their victims. At other times, they just murdered their victims like they did to Olufunke Olakunrin, daughter of the respected Yoruba leader, Reuben Fasoranti, on the same road under reference, in June 2019. Fortuitously, her killers were found, prosecuted and sentenced to death three years later.
Governors of the South West states, unanimously afflicted by this scourge, agreed in January 2020, to establish in their various states, a security outfit to be known as Amotekun. A Yoruba word, Amotekun means “cheetah.” The animal is a member of the global “big cat” family in the animal kingdom, which are apex predators.
Creatures in this bracket, which include lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, are famous for stealth, speed and precision in preying on their targets. All six states in the region: Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti, signed up for this initiative, which was driven from the very top by the governors of each state. The South West states are famous for their historical collaboration on issues of the socioeconomic wellbeing of their states and people.
The Amotekun concept is emplaced as a homegrown complement to the endeavours of existing intelligence and security organisations, in securing lives and property. It is not a rival, but a partner with preexisting agencies in the intelligence and security ecosystem. This typically consists of the military, the police, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, (NSCDC) and the Department of State Services, (DSS).
Across the six South West states, Amotekun is charged primarily to protect persons, property and carry out emergency response services. The Corps systematically gathers, documents, evaluates and analyses data and information to convert to actionable intelligence for tactical, operational and strategic goals. It shares intelligence about crime in progress; suspicious activities, criminal suspects and other criminal activities.
Amotekun collaborates with similar security agencies including but not limited to Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti states in deterring kidnapping, terrorism, disruption of livelihood, criminal damage to property, cultism, highway robbery and other criminal activities. It ensures that all persons travelling along highways, major roads, remote areas, hinterlands and forests are free to engage in their normal activities without fear or hindrance.
Amotekun also assists the police in carrying out any other lawful activity aimed at maintaining law and order within their areas of jurisdiction. The operational ambit of the Corps could indeed be broader.
Since the enthronement of Amotekun in the six core Yoruba states five years ago, the organisation has complement the enterprise of statutory security outfits in notable measure. It has foiled robberies, disrupted kidnappings, stemmed open-ended trespass and destruction of farms by marauding herdsmen, and rescued potential victims and casualties of criminal schemes.
As recently as Sunday February 15, 2025, Amotekun foiled a robbery on the notorious Sagamu- Odogbolu- Ijebu Ode, on the Lagos-Sagamu-Ore-Benin expressway. One of the suspects was neutralised, while a second one was arrested during a gun duel. The suspect arrested led Amotekun operatives to the hideout of the gang, where another suspect who had earlier fled during the gun duel, took refuge. Just last week, February 10, 2025, the Ondo State Command of the Corps rescued five victims of a kidnapping episode on the ever recurring Benin- Owo road. Such is the serially documented efficacy of Amotekun in its various theatres of operation.
Source: THISDAY
