Arm Amotekun now or face invasion— Ex-ambassador warns South-West governors.

Arm Amotekun now or face invasion— Ex-ambassador warns South-West governors.

The chairman of the Coalition of Yoruba Liberation Groups, Dr. Yemi Farounbi, has urged the governors of the South-West region to arm the newly formed Amotekun to protect the Yoruba land against herdsmen invasion. Dr. Farounbi was an ex-envoy to the Philippines, who now heads the group that chases the interest of the Yoruba nation.

The group appealed to the governors to engage the hunters and vigilantes, possibly arm them to save the lives and properties of the inhabitants of the region.

The group stressed heavily on the Iganga attack and used that to reveal how vulnerable the South-West is and urged the governors to absorb the vigilantes and hunters who would receive monthly stipends.

The chairman of the group, Dr. Farounbi also advised the government to send relief materials to the victims of the attacks and also compensate them.

There had been herders attacks on the region, which led to the formation of Amotekun, a local security outfit that was set to work partially with the Nigerian Police to reduce crimes in the region. The performance of the security outfit is affected by the poor arms and this has raised calls to arm the group to tackle the herders who are armed to the teeth.

The ex-envoy said, “Local government chairmen should partner with hunters and vigilantes who will be  on monthly stipends in all local governments in South-West.“

There should also be an immediate meeting of Obas as a matter of urgency to deliberate on the way out of these frequent acts of aggression.

“Our Amotekun should be heavily fortified and its personnel should be made to undergo intensive continuous training and work closely with community self-defense groups like Agbekoya, Oodua Peoples Congress, Ekun Oodua, vigilante and others,” the chairman of the group said in a security meeting held in Ibadan.

Many other regions have established their own security outfit modeled after the ineffective Amotekun.