PhotoNews: Osun Residents Demonstrate, Declare Support For Operation Amotekun

Residents of Osun State have staged a peaceful rally in Osogbo, the state capital to declare their support for the controversial Southwest Security outfit codenamed “Operation Amotekun.”

They also commended Southwest governors on the initiative and declared that Operation Amotekun would stand the test of time.

Amid chant of solidarity songs, the residents marched from Nelson Mandela Freedom Park through Oke-fia to Oja Oba in Osogbo. Other demonstrators seized the rally to sensitise members of the public on the need to support the regional security outfit.

Speaking with our correspondent in Osogbo, the Chairman, Yoruba World Congress Osun State Chapter, and convener of the peaceful rally, Dr Akin Adejuwon said the rally was aimed at creating awareness, mobilising people and to assure them that Amotekun has come to stay.

Adejuwon said: “It is not a protest but a walk of mobilization and awareness and sensitisation of people to the fact that Amotekun is being deployed on their behalf.”

“The Southwestern part has been known to be the most peaceful part of Nigeria for generations and we have discovered that peace is being cut short by some calculated efforts of brigands and all sort of negative powers. So that’s why we have to bring all that to an end.”

While explaining the need for Amotekun in the Southwest, he said Amotekun is the instantaneous response to a very serious problem that is very typical in the Southwestern part of Nigeria.

Adejuwon said the awareness is for governors to know that for another time, they have proved to be real “Omoluabis.”

“The essence of Omoluabi is to respond to the need of your people and that is what they have just done.

“They know that we are with them and we are coming here today (Tuesday) to tell them that anybody that is not with them are on their own.

Also speaking, a stakeholder in the movement, Engr Sola Fatokun stressed that the long and the protracted agitation for state police was inevitable with the dawn of Amotekun.

“Someone cannot sit down in Abuja and be monitoring and supervising what is happening in Osogbo. If government can issue firearms to individuals, what prevents Southwest governors from having their own security outfit?” He queried.

He advised the Federal government to consult Southwest governors and give them necessary support.