Amotekun, Ploy To Secure Yoruba Land, Declare Oduduwa Republic — Ex-Kaduna Gov, Balarabe Musa

Former governor of old Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, has said that the main reason the leaders and governors of the Southwest region set up the new security outfit, Operation Amotekun was to secure Yoruba land and declare Oduduwa Republic.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Sun, Musa warned that the federal government and Nigerians must not allow the operation of such security network, adding that the establishment of the outfit is unconstitutional.

He warned that it was a ploy to secure Yoruba land and a prelude to the declaration of Oduduwa Republic.

The former Governor further said that some of the security components of the outfit like the OPC have records of recklessness in terms of securing the lives and property of non-Yoruba.

He said;

“First of all, taking into account what happened in the history of Nigeria, this Amotekun will lead to a declaration of Oduduwa Republic.

“Look at the composition of those who constitute the organization in addition to the six states governors.

“There is also the OPC, Afenifere, and others. So the fear is quite obvious. And this is in spite of the fact that this government is incompetent.

“Definitely, this government is incompetent. And it is because of the incompetence of this government that this problem has arisen. But let us also not forget that this Federal Government is an alliance between the North and the Southwest.

“So, why should this happen? Any correction in the set up of the country is possible if this alliance, which controls the government in the country can do its work.

Reacting to the declaration by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami that Amotekun is illegal.

He said, “Oh yes! It is illegal because it contravenes the provisions of the law in the constitution.

“And unfortunately for them in spite of the intellectual aura of the elite class in the Southwest, they couldn’t be articulate because they could have been articulate like the Kano State did in the case of Hisbah.

“They went through the State House of Assembly. Now, if this Amotekun had been taken through the six-state Houses of Assembly before it was formed you could say they have a case in the sense that the state Houses of Assembly are in charge of lawmaking.

“Secondly, the governor of each state is the chief security officer of his state. So, if you combine this two and enact a law allowing for the formation of Amotekun, they would have gotten it right.

“But in spite of their articulation, they failed to do so, which means it must be deliberate that what they are concerned exactly is an Oduduwa State.”

Asked what he would advise the Southwest do in a situation where they have a serious security challenge, Musa said:

“Well, in the first place the security situation in the Southwest is not more than it is in other parts of the country, particularly in the Northwest.

“Even yesterday (last Wednesday) there was the report of the Emir of Potiskum almost losing his life between Kaduna and Zaria as a result of attacks by bandits. Many lives were lost and people were affected.

“Now, this is the situation in the whole country not only in the Southwest. Now, what they ought to have done in the interest of humanity and national unity is to use their power in government since this is an alliance between their region and the North, to bring about laws, which will make the police more relevant and more powerful.

“At the moment, the police are not. It is understaffed and they suffer the same thing as other institutions in the country. But then with their power as partners in government they can make the Federal Government to stand and make the police to do their work so much so that we will not have a situation where everybody will be helping himself.

“For instance, they can use the Amotekun to strengthen the police or better still use their power to see that the Federal Government and Buhari do the right thing. And this annoys everybody. It annoys all of us. The Federal Government is not doing the right thing and it is because they are not doing the right thing that there is this factionalisation. Let them use their political power to make sure the Federal Government does the right thing.”