By Abdullahi M. GullomaAbuja
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo Thursday met with governors from south-west where the two parties agreed to align the structure of Amotekun with the community policing strategy of the federal government.The meeting, held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, was attended by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Mr Abubakar Malami and the Attorneys-General of the southwest states.Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity in the Office of the Vice President Mr Laolu Akande said in a statement after the meeting that the two parties also agreed that necessary legal instruments should be put in place by each of the states to give legal backing to the initiative and address all issues concerning the regulation of the security structure.“Vice President Yemi Osinbajo met today with South West Governors, the Attorney General of the Federation and the Inspector General of Police.“The meeting was at the instance of the Governors who had asked to see President Muhammadu Buhari over the controversy surrounding the Amotekun Initiative. However due to the President’s foreign engagement, he asked the Vice President to host the meeting.“The meeting was very fruitful and unanimous resolutions were made on the way forward. Having regard to the need for all hands to be on deck in addressing the security concerns across the country, it was agreed that the structure of Amotekun should also align with the Community Policing strategy of the Federal Government.“It was also agreed that necessary legal instruments will be put in place by each of the States to give legal backing to the initiative and address all issues concerning the regulation of the security structure,” he said.Also speaking, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo state, said there has been misconception about the Amotekun security initiative of the southwest.He said the security outfit has not been declared illegal by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Mr Abubakar Malami.“Well, we ‘ve held a very fruitful discussion. Governors of the South-West were all there. The meeting was presided over by the Vice President and the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation was there and the Inspector General of Police.“So, we have rubbed minds and all of us have agreed on the way forward and the most important one is that we are going to have the legal framework to back this Amotekun and the legal framework is going to be one in which all of us will look at and will be sure that it goes without any hinderance.“What I believe, our resolution is that Amotekun is there. You know the federal government is starting community policing and in essence, Amotekun is about community policing so we are going to work together to see the community policing and Amotekun work in a way.“The Attorney General has said he was mis-interpreted, so its so clear there was no time the federal government wanted to stop Amotekun,” he said.On whether the southwest governors did not consult before floating the security outfit, the governor said: “There were consultations because we held discussion with the Inspector General of Police then and what has developed is what led to this meeting. We just felt that with all this noise out there about Amotekun it is better for us to sit down.“You remember, immediately the noise started, I said we are going to explore political solution and all of us are here even my colleague the Deputy Governor of Oyo who is a PDP member, all of us so we have looked at the political and legal solution to it and all of us will do it.”