Why We Don’t Have Amotekun In Lagos – Sanwo-Olu

The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has given reasons why the state is not launching its own South West Security Outfit, codenamed Amotekun.

The governor said the state already has over 7,000 Neighborhood Watch personnel who are doing exactly what Amotekun operatives are doing.

He disclosed the position of the state while featuring on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ on Sunday evening.

Sanwo-Olu added that the Lagos State Neighborhood Safety Corps (LNSC) did not just engage in state policing but also involved in border patrol.

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“So it’s just a name change in the case of Lagos. I appreciate what my colleague governors are doing, and they also appreciate the peculiar nature of Lagos.

“I have got over 7,000 neighbourhood watch personnel in Lagos, who are doing exactly the same thing that we have Amotekun doing.

“They are there at the border post giving us daily monitoring in their localities and feeding it back to the central. They are the ones feeding us with information. But they cannot carry arms and prosecute people.

“The borders that I have in Lagos are outside of the Atlantic Ocean is Ogun state,” Sanwo-Olu said.

The Governor of Lagos State also made a case for the establishment of state police, adding that it is long overdue.

“It is long overdue, we should make it happen. In fact, that is one of the critical things that I believe will help us. It has been said over and over again,” he said.

He noted that Nigerian governors are frustrated as they cannot be in charge of the security situation in their states.

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He expressed that when the police is domesticated, it will be easier for the operatives to tackle crimes in their states because they are already used to their different host communities.

According to him, Lagos state has been supporting the Nigeria Police Force in the state by buying vehicles for the force, fueling, and allowances which should be done by Federal Government.

“The last time, we gave them 1,250 constabularies and we are paying their salaries. We paid for everything – uniform, food, etc. So we are actually incurring those expenses already.

“It is really not going to have any bigger bolt on our numbers because that is what we are doing. But it will help us to know that there are state police. What we will do is that somebody grows up in an area, you will understand that area.

“You will know where Okokomaiko is, you will understand the issues around Ojoko, you will know what the problem is in Lagos Island once it is domesticated,” he said.