Security: We’ll explore voluntary policing, says Makinde

Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo, says the state will explore voluntary policing to tackle insecurity.

There have been violent clashes in the state in the past weeks, leading to deaths and destruction of properties.

The most recent attack occurred on February 12, when an ethnic clash between Yoruba and Hausa traders in the Shasha market claimed the lives of some persons, and led to the loss of properties worth millions of naira.

Seven persons have been charged to court in connection with the Shasha market crisis.

At the inaugural meeting of the state’s security task force on Monday, Makinde said the voluntary policing initiative will include non-state actors.

“The task force is made up of eleven members led by me, and includes cabinet members and the directors-general of Operation Burst and Amotekun,” he said.

“This task force is set up to complement the activities of the security agencies in the state. We plan to enumerate the various communities and markets in our state and identify the contact persons in these communities. We will also be meeting with traditional rulers in the state on security matters.

“We will also explore the possibility of voluntary policing which will include non-state actors in a complete policing architecture.

“We will have checkpoints at the major entry/exit points of the state. This will be integrated into the state security control room and the security architecture.”

The governor added that the task force will meet weekly to address security issues in the state.

While there are ongoing calls for state policing to adequately deal with security challenges, the south-west states had, in 2020, launched the Western Nigeria Security Network, a regional outfit code-named Amotekun.

Although the federal government had first described the outfit as illegal, an agreement for a legal framework was later reached with the governors.