SIGNING OF EKITI STATE SECURITY NETWORK AGENCY LAW 2020
at
Exco Chamber, Governor’s Office, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State
on
Monday 16, 2020
Protocols1. Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to welcome you to this very remarkable event of the signing of Ekiti State Security Network Agency Law 2020. 2. Today is significant in our history as a State and people as we give legal backing to Amotekunin Ekiti State, an initiative that has defied all odds. The collective quest of Ekiti-kete and indeed the Yoruba race to address the security challenges in our State and region has brought out the omoluabi in all of us. 3. Above all, the issue of Amotekun has reaffirmed that indeed the omoluabis are their brothers’ keepers. For the first time in this democratic dispensation, we spoke with one voice without political and religious considerations. This is a thing of joy and pride for all freeborn Ekiti-kete and indeed Yoruba, and a mark of respect for our collective heritage as a people.4. You will recall that our sister States in the southwest have performed the exercise that brought us here today. We are gathered here therefore to further show that the wellbeing of our people is not negotiable. 5. As a responsible and responsive government that values security of lives and property of its citizenry, it is our strong belief that security is crucial to socio-economic development. As a government, we are leaving no stone unturned to make Ekiti State free of crime and criminality because the primary assignment of every responsible government is the protectionof lives and property of the citizenry.6. The precarious security situation we are contending with nationwide has created palpable fear in the minds of our people. The current challenges of proliferation of small arms and light weapons, kidnapping, assassination, herdsmen/farmers clashes, cattle rustling, ritual killing, armed robbery, cultism and youth restiveness are daunting, but surmountable.7. As a government, we are determined to put an end to this worrisome development. We are encouraged and strengthened by the sense of responsibility and collective support that our people, at home and in the diaspora, give the Amotekun initiative.8. You will recall that on January 9, 2020, the Western Nigeria Security Network codenamed“Amotekun” was officially launched in Ibadan, by all the six States in Southwest region of Nigeria. This led to series of events that culminated into the signing of the Ekiti State Security Network Law 2020 today.9. I sincerely thank our Honourable Lawmakers under the able leadership of the Speaker, Rt. Honourable Funminiyi Afuye. I thank everyone involved in the process that brought us here today. I am proud of you all and what you have done.10. You have successfully addressed all grey areas and equally allay the fears of all and sundry. Of special interest is the part of the law that expressly spelt it out that Ekiti State Security Network Amotekun will “collaborate with and assist the Police and other security network agencies in gathering information about crime, crime investigation, arrest and prosecution of persons suspected or involved in kidnapping, terrorism, cattle rustling, cultism, highway robbery, illegal mining, trespass to farmland, illegal logging and other criminal activities”. This further confirms our position and assertion that Amotekun is not a substitute for existing security agencies but a complementary agency to enhance the performance of the existing security architecture.11. The agency, Amotekun, shall in the course of carrying out its duties, safeguard the human rights as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and other relevant human rightsinstruments, and ensure that all persons travelling along the highways, major roads, remote areas, hinterland and forest are free to participate in their normal socio-economic life without fear or hindrance. 12. These laws were crafted to ensure the safety and freedom of not only Ekiti indigenes or Yoruba people, but for everyone within and around South-western States, in particular Ekiti State. The law protects and safeguards all,within our State and region, irrespective of where you come from. All of these are borne out of the need to create a safe and secure environment for our people.13. Of course, the Ekiti State Security Network, Amotekun, will collaborate with similar security network agencies in other States, including but not limited to Ogun, Lagos, Ondo, Osun and Oyo States to deter kidnapping, terrorism, destruction of livelihood, criminal damage to property, cultism, highway robbery and any other criminal activities and to assist the Police in apprehending such criminals. With the good work that our various Houses of Assembly have done on Amotekun, I am bold, proud and glad to call myself a Yorubaman, an Omoluabi. 14. We are only following the paths of our forebears by putting the welfare and best interest of our people first. Our avowed mission is hinged solely on making sure that life is worth living for our people. This, we would do by ensuring the safety of lives and property of our people, and everybody within and around our State and region.15. Ladies and gentlemen, crime fighting is a collective responsibility. All hands must be ondeck in our quest to restore peace and curb criminality in our State and region. Those who engage in criminal activities live within and around us. Let us be vigilant and be sensitive to new faces in our midst. Be your brother’s keeper and disseminate information to the relevant agencies on time to enable them respond as quick as possible to spot and apprehend criminals.16. This network cannot be effective without the active involvement of our traditional rulers. I have directed that our royal fathers should play an active role in their various domains and in the management of Amotekun Corps.17. Let me use this opportunity to warn the criminally minded people to stay away from Ekiti State and the entire South-West region, as Amotekun will get them wherever they hide if they refuse to leave. With this new initiative, I call on more investors to come to Ekiti State because the State is safe and secure for business.18. I thank the Federal Government led byPresident Muhammadu Buhari for the efforts so far on crime fighting. I also commend all Service Chiefs and urge them to embrace and cooperate with Ekiti State Security Network, Amotekun. The task ahead is tedious but highly surmountable with unity of purpose.19. I will like to end this address with an assurance to all and sundry that as a State Government,we would do our best through Amotekun in partnership with all security agencies to ensure that our people can sleep peacefully with their eyes closed and move freely without any fear of being attacked, kidnapped or killed within and around Ekiti State and the southwest.20. Once again, I acknowledge the efforts of everyone who collaborated and worked painstakingly, to produce the Ekiti State Security Network Law 2020, that I have just signed. I appreciate the renewed partnership, the mutual understanding as well as collaboration between the executive and the legislature. Thank you all for making us proud once again.21. Alale Ekiti a gbe a o!
Dr. Kayode Fayemi, CON
Governor.