A Second Republic lawmaker, Dr Junaid Mohammed, has lambasted leaders of the Yoruba-dominated Southwest region of the country for setting up a new security outfit known as Amotekun.
Mohammed asked the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government “to test the matter at the Supreme Court to get a pronouncement that no state has the right to raise a state or region army while the constitution forbids such.”
The ex-parliamentarian described the outfit as a tribal militia to enable them to actualize the emergence of the Oduduwa Republic through the backdoor.
Recall that a former Governor of old Kaduna State Balarabe Musa had earlier made a similar claim.
Mohammed told Vanguard that the move by the Southwest leaders would backfire against them and equally pitch them against other Nigerians.
Mohammed, who was a member of the 2014 Constitutional Conference wants President Muhammadu Buhari to come out at once and condemn what he called the ‘illegality orchestrated by the Southwest’ before it becomes too late for Nigeria to be able to deal with the misdemeanour.
The outspoken Northern leader said the Southwest governors knew that their action was illegal from the outset since no section of the Nigerian constitution makes provision for the state police or regional ethnic army but fragrantly tested the political will of the federal government by going ahead to flout the fake army.
“It was a grave mistake for the Presidency to allow the governors to set up the outfit if it is true that the federal government gave them any form of permission to launch,” he said.
“How can governors who have not been able to pay the new minimum wage, be able to set up an army and armed the militias?”
“To me, it is not in Nigeria’s interest to allow Amotekun at this time in its history. As far as I am concerned the fact that they went ahead to flout such an entity at this moment in the history of Nigeria shows clearly that there is something fundamentally wrong with the polity.
“I know the key players in the Southwest very well. And part of their calculation is that if Amotekun fails, they would at least use it to force the federal government to make more concessions to the Yoruba.
“But I want the masterminds of this grave illegality to be ready to face the consequences of their dastard action.
Mohammed disagreed that Amotekun, Hisbah police, and Civilian JTF were, all the same, pointing out that while Amotekun is armed by the governors of the Southwest, Civilian JTF are mere hunters and like Hisbah do not carry arms.
