Why Lagos has not inaugurated Amotekun -Sanwo-Olu

GOVERNOR Babajide Sanwo-Olu has explained why the “centre of excellence”, of all the six states in the South-West region, has not inaugurated the local security outfit codenamed, Amotekun.

Sanwo-Olu noted that his state presently has an equivalent of Amotekun in the Lagos Neighborhood Safety Corps.

The governor stressed that the operatives of LNSC are currently doing the work of Amotekun in the state.

He spoke during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics at the Lagos House.

According to him, apart from community policing, operatives of the LNSC also engage in border patrol.

Sanwo-Olu said, “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 also said the creation of state police is long overdue, saying it is one of the critical things that would help the country.

He explained that domesticating the police outfit will make it easier to effectively tackle crimes in different communities.

“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 added.