22nd January, 2020
Adejoke Adeleye, Abeokuta
Ogun state joined the rest of the southwest states in the solidarity rally against the federal government’s rejection of the South West Security Outfit (Amotekun) with an insistence that the security outfit must stay.
Different groups and organisations, including the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), Odua Peoples Congress (OPC), National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) among others, converged at Panseke, Abeokuta, the state capital with short banners with various inscription such as “FG has Failed Us”, “Amotekun As Come To Stay”, “We are all Amotekun”, among others.
The rally which started at exactly 10:15 a.m witnessed the presence of security operatives, including the Department of State Service (DSS), the Nigerian Police Force as well as the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) to maintain sanity during the demonstration.
The coordinator of the rally and the Chairman of the state Amotekun Solidarity Rally, Cheif Jimoh Olawale Taofeeq who spoke to journalists stressed that the rationale behind the demonstration was to tell the federal government and entire Nigerians that they want Amotekun to stay in the Southwest.
He argued that so long the northerners also have their special security outfits, there’s is no law that opposes the southwest zone to also have its own, adding that the Federal government has no ground to justify why Amotekun must not stay.
Taofeeq who recalled that part of the functions of the government is to ensure the security of the people said if the government is truly an advocate of security, it must accept Amotekun.
He equally states that Amotekun would not only protect the Yoruba tribe but also everybody living in the southwest, including the Hausas and the Igbo tribe.
Also speaking at the sideline of the demonstration, the State Chairman Of CDHR, Comrade Yinka Folarin said, anyone who says Amotekun is illegal must be seen as a threat to the security of the southwest.
He hinted that what Amotekun wants to achieve is adequate security and to checkmate the excesses of insecurity in the southwest zone.
Speaking earlier, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Kenneth Ebrimson who visited the scene expressed satisfaction over the exercise. He said the rally was beyond his expectation as it was peaceful.
Ebrimson stated that he strategically put his men in place to ensure that there is no break down of law and order.