The Oyo State Commandant of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN), Mr Oladeji Olowolafe has said that the much anticipated South Western Security Network codenamed Operation Amotekun may not achieve the desired result in Oyo State with the modalities put in place by the State government for the recruitment of the Amotekun Personnel.
Mr Olowolafe expressed this opinion on Tuesday while speaking on IMPACT POINT – a News and Current Affairs programme on IBR 92.5fm Ibadan.
Justifying his position, the Leader of the Vigilante Group said “it was shocking to hear the State government asking those who are interested in the Scheme to go and apply online. Unfortunately, we know ourselves. Those who will do this job, I mean those who have the capacity to do the kind of job expected, cannot do anything online”.
“Imagine that the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Agbekoya Group, Hunters Association and the Vigilante Group of Nigeria are not being carried along in all of these. I had to apply online when I saw the advert to do that. But I am sure that with time, we will know where we are going”.
He stated unequivocally that the Ekiti Amotekun is different from what Oyo is planning to set up.
“I can tell you that the Ekiti State Amotekun is different from what Oyo State is planning hence, no uniformity”.
When asked if the Vigilante Group is making any impact in Oyo State especially he noted that many at times, the Vigilante Group members make arrest and hand the Suspects or Criminals to the Police and they parade them.
“I can tell you that some of the Suspects that the police parade are being arrested by the Vigilance Group. The Police invite me at times whenever they want to parade them so, I can tell you that we have achieved a lot and we are still working”.
He suggested that in order for the Amotekun Corps to achieve the expected result, the Head of all the local security outfit should be consulted and co-opted into Amotekun. This he said will give optimal result. He kicked against the model adopted by the government in recruiting Amotekun Officials saying the scheme as presently constituted lacks proper coordination.
