Ondo begins recruitment of Amotekun Corps

By Adekola Afolabi
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Sequel to the passage and signing into law of the bill establishing the Ondo State Security Network Agency and Amotekun Corps by the state House of Assembly and Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu respectively, the stage is now set for the recruitment of personnel into the corps.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Security Matters, Alhaji Jimoh Dojumo, who disclosed this to The Hope yesterday in Akure, the Ondo state capital revealed that the recruitment of personnel into the Amotekun Corps begins immediately.

Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu had on Wednesday signed the Amotekun bill into law with a promise to ensure that the personnel are not used for political or individual interests.

Dojumo, who was silent on the number of personnel to be recruited, however, disclosed that the recruitment of pioneer personnel would start immediately and would cut across the 18 local government areas of the state.

He revealed that government would ensure that those to be recruited have the knowledge of their different areas, the terrains and must be from their respective local communities.

According to Dojumo, all personnel to be recruited must be indigenes of the state, and would include members of Local Vigilante group, hunters’ group, Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), among others and would be headed by Commander with a proven integrity.

He explained that hoodlums or people of questionable characters would not be recruited into the Amotekun Corps, as all applicants would be subjected to necessary checks and clearance.

“We are going to get their bio-data, do the security and, background checks of any personnel who is going to be recruited into the Amotekun Corps.

“We are going to do diligent checking on them. We will send their names to the DSS for scrutiny and bio-data check. No ex-convict, criminal or person of questionable character would be recruited,” the SSA Security assured.

Dojumo particularly commended Governor Akeredolu and other South West Governors for their quick response to curb the scourge of killings, kidnapping, banditry, armed robbery and all forms of criminal activities confronting the region.

While signing the bill into law on Wednesday, Governor Akeredolu who explained that the Amotekun Corps was born out of necessity also noted that the security outfit was strictly for the security of lives and property of the people of the State, and would not be used for political purposes.

The governor emphasised that it would be wrong for anybody to call on the corps if they have political crises, instead they should call the police because they are in charge of such.

“Personnel of Amotekun will strictly be deployed for security purposes, to work with the police on matters related and not limited to kidnapping, farmers/herdsmen clashes, sea piracy, and others,” he said.

The governor also said the corps was set up to complement efforts of existing security agencies, and not to compete with them, explaining that there could not be an end to the nature of security outfits to be provided for the people.

He commended members of the House of Assembly for the speedy passage of the bill.

He further stressed that Amotekun Corps has no party colouration or barrier, because all the governors in the South West region worked together to protect their people regardless of party affiliations.

“We could not wait ad infinitum for the issues of community policing to be resolved before we do what is needed to secure our people’s lives and properties,” Governor Akeredolu added.

Earlier, the Speaker, Ondo State House of Assembly, Bamidele Oleyelogun, who congratulated the governor, also described the event as another milestone in the history of the state.

He further said Amotekun Corps was a result of the genuine concern of the governors in the South West region for protection of lives and properties of the people.