The lawmaker representing Oyo South Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Senator Lekan Balogun, has asked the Inspector-General of Police, Alkali Baba Usman, to grant Amotekun the license to bear arms.
Speaking during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, Balogun said granting Amotekun operatives the license to bear arms will end the constant killings of innocent Nigerians in the South West.
He said: “Let me also say that I am aware that the Amotekun personnel has requested that the Inspector-General of Police grant them the license to be well-equipped. As we speak now, they are not as equipped as these invaders who are savages and who go on the rampage.
“I appeal to the IG and the police to grant them (Amotekun personnel) the license to be well-equipped as long as what they are doing is in support of what the police is doing.”
Reacting to the killing of 11 people and destruction of properties in the Igangan community in Oyo State during last weekend’s herdsmen attack, Balogun condemning the incident and described the attack as callous.
The senator also lauded Amotekun operatives and other local vigilante groups for their intervention during the attack.
He said: “Amotekun is active and Amotekun is working even with the police. As a matter of fact, the situation would have been worse but for Amotekun and other local security outfits because from the report that I got, the people that came to invade had bigger plans than what happened,” he added while noting that Amotekun now has a joint patrol across the region.
“It was the community, the Amotekun, the local vigilantes that were mobilised in the middle of the night even though they were ambushed because they were not expecting them but they actually mitigated the effect of the damage.”
This article was originally published on Nigeria News