Amnesty International, human rights activists and some lawyers on Thursday urged federal authorities to call to order those behind Amotekun before the security outfit further degenerates into a militia group.
The issues surrounding Amotekun’s modus operandi appears more disturbing especially in Oyo State, where the operatives are wielding dangerous weapons, including guns, during their operations.
Amotekun operatives
Many people have been killed by Amotekun operatives even as their political leaders continue to live in denial while defending or justifying the group’s activities.
The latest incident was Wednesday’s killing of another 21-year-old student, Tosin Thomas, in Ibadan, less than 24-hours after Governor Seyi Makinde defended the operatives of Amotekun when he insisted that they did not kill some innocent Fulani herders.
Speaking on the killing, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Olugbenga Fadeyi, yesterday confirmed in a statement in Ibadan that an Amotekun operative was responsible for the killing of the student at a Total Filling Station at Mokola roundabout in the evening.
The commandant of Amotekun, Col. Olayanju Olayinka (rtd), confirmed the incident yesterday.
Mr Olayinka, however, said the operative, who shot the deceased, has been dismissed and handed over to police.
We gathered in the build-up to the killing, two young men had a misunderstanding, which led to one of them inviting men of Amotekun to the venue.
The source said when the operative got to the venue, he did not engage them before he fired the gunshots which hit the deceased.
The Amotekun operatives have reportedly killed 11 people within three weeks in Oyo State.On December 24, 2020, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) accused members of Amotekun deployed in Oyo town of killing a 400-level student of the University of Ibadan, Akolade Gbadebo.
Also, on January 3, a member of the corps, Ibrahim Ogundele, allegedly shot Fatai Yekini, also an officer of the Amotekun corps, at Isale-Oyo area of Oyo, as Special Police Constabulary attached to Ojongbodu Police Station.
On Saturday, three Fulani residents of the state were allegedly killed by the Amotekun corps in Okebi, Tapa area of Ibarapa Central Local Government Area of the state.
However, a family head, Mogaji Wale Oladoja, cautioned members of the public not to change the narrative of the incident, adding that it is unfair to turn it into a tribal war.
He said Yoruba and Hausa people have been living peacefully for many years without crisis, adding “inter-marriages have been happening between them from time immemorial.”
According to him, “We don’t have to turn this to ethnicity war for no reason. Almost 10 people were killed in that area in less than a week and you expect security men to fold their arms. Let’s be reasonable.”
On their activities, Oladoja said; “If not for the Amotekun, those hoodlums could have hijacked the state from the people. Those Amotekun people are really working since the police stopped working after the #EndSARS protest. They are really helping us.”
