Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of Osun, on Friday, announced the appointment of the Chairman, Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC), Comrade Amitolu Shittu, as the Director-General of the newly-established Amotekun Corps.
The Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Ismail Omipidan, made this known through a statement he made available to newsmen in Osogbo, the capital of Osun State.
According to the statement, the appointment was in line with the commitment of Governor Oyetola to the security and welfare of the people of the State.
It added that the appointment takes effect immediately.
The statement reads in part: “Shittu, 55, an activist committed to truth, the people, and good governance is expected to bring his wealth of experience garnered over the decades to bear in the discharge of his new responsibility with absolute loyalty and dedication.”
Recall that the governors of the six states in the South West geo-political zone last year set up a security outfit known as ‘ Western Nigeria Security Network’ codenamed ‘ Operation Amotekun’, to serve as a complement to the Federal security arrangement in the face of deteriorating security architecture in the region.
The establishment of the outfit, however, generated some pockets of controversies bordering on its legality and alleged crude nature among other concerns, especially from Northern elite.
The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, later declared the outfit as illegal, citing schedule 2 of the 1999 Constitution, which spells out those agencies that were saddled with the responsibility of policing, as well as the statutory obligation of governors in the federating units.
Consequently, the governors then came up with laws to give legal backing to the security arrangement tHrough their separate Houses of Assembly.
