Northwest governors to copy WNSN as youths kick

From Augustine Okezie, Katsina and AbdulGafar Alabalewe Kaduna

Governors in the Northwest states are interested in the initiative of Operation Amotekun which went into operation on Thursday in the Southwest.

Katsina State Governor Aminu Masari, who is the chairman of Northwest Governors’ Forum said on Thursday that the Northwest which has been in the grip of banditry, will consider copying the idea to secure their zone.

He told reporters: “We have a lot to learn from them (the Southwest). I will call a meeting of the states affected by insecurity to see what they are doing and how we can borrow from them.”

Masari expressed regret that “Criminality has now come to the cities and towns from the forests, the criminals in the cities now invite the bandits from the forest to kidnap for ransom.

“We are going to deal with the unrepentant bandits located particularly in Jibia and Batsari.”

Read Also: Governors: Amotekun not a parallel security outfit

The governors described those spreading rumours that the peace pact his government signed with bandits was  dead as alarmists bent  on  putting Katsina in a bad light.

Masari said “the peace deal has not collapsed though it has its problems.

But the Northern Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) kicked against the takeoff of Amotekun in Ibadan.

The NYCN  described Amotekun as Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) in disguise.

In a statement yesterday by its President, Isah Abubakar, the NYCN  expressed fear  that Amotekun  might metamorphose into dangerous groups like  Boko Haram and the proscribed IPOB .

It called on President Muhammadu Buhari and other stakeholders   to rise against the security outfit.

It said, “Amotekun group in  the Southwest is OPC military wing in disguise in much the same league with the proscribed IPOB terrorist organization.  The president must not allow this unconstitutionality to prevail.

“The Southwest governors must desist from backing nefarious groups such as this one. Amotekun  is a threat to peace and national security and an attempt to jeopardise Nigeria’s sovereignty.

“The Amotekun is not different from Boko Haram and the IPOB movement.

“We call on the Nigeria Police, DSS, and the military not to take this lightly with the governors of Southwest.

“The National Security Adviser should promptly take steps that will avert the looming threat to our national security that is about to be created by governors of Southwest, OPC, and others.”