Akeredolu Blasts  FG for Permitting non-state Actors to Bear Weapons

The Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), has blasted the Federal Government for permitting “non-state actors to bear heavy assault weapons while denying the same privilege to the states and federating units” with joint security outfits like the Amotekun Corps.

According to Akeredolu, Richard Olatunde, his chief press secretary, provided Channels Television with a copy of the statement he signed on Wednesday.

The head of the Southern and South-West Governors’ Forums denounced the Federal Government’s choice to hire a private security firm to guard pipelines in the South-South.

The decision by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to award the contract for the surveillance of pipelines to a company that Government Ekpemupolo, also known as Tompolo, a former leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, has an interest in, was hailed as the right one on Tuesday by the company’s chief executive officer, Mele Kyari.

Kyari, who spoke at the 49th session of the state house briefing at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said, “We need private contractors to man the right of way to these pipelines…We don’t have access to that, and therefore, we put up a framework where contractors were selected through a tender process for people who can do it, not everyone can do it, and Tompolo is just mentioned. We’re dealing with corporate entities.

“He may have interest in the company, we’re not dealing with Tompolo, but we know that he has interests in that company.”

The governors of the six states launched the South-West security network, codenamed Amotekun, in 2020 out of worry about the deteriorating security situation in the South-West geopolitical zone. In 2021, the governors of the South-East did likewise and launched the Ebube Agu regional security network. However, the Federal Government has refused to issue either regional group an arming permit.

In his statement on Wednesday, Akeredolu said that only state-owned security organisations—not non-state actors or private security companies—need the authorisation to carry assault rifles.

Akeredolu’s statement, titled, ‘Who Actually Needs Weapon?’ read, “The news concerning the purported award of pipeline contracts to some individuals and private organisations by the Federal Government has been unsettling. More disquieting is the barely disguised hostility displayed against either the idea or the actual establishment of security outfits by some State Governments to fill the widening gaps in the scope of security coverage noticeable nationally.

“The Federal Government, through the Office of the National Security Adviser, has consistently refused to accede to the request by some States in the Federation to strengthen the complementary initiatives adopted to protect lives and property. This is done in spite of the knowledge that the very issues which necessitated the creation of these outfits support providing adequate weaponry. All attempts to persuade the Federal Government to look critically into the current security architecture have been rebuffed despite the manifest fundamental defects engendered by over-centralisation.

“It is, therefore, shocking to read that the Federal Government has maintained the award of the contract to “protect” the country’s pipeline from vandals to private organisations. This story, if true, leaves a sour taste in the mouth. The NSA will, obviously, not advise the President to approve the award of a contract of such magnitude if the operators have not displayed sufficient capacity to checkmate the criminal activities of equally powerful groups. Consequently, it is safe to conclude that the Federal Government has, impliedly, permitted non-state actors to bear heavy assault weapons while denying the same privilege to the States, the federating units.

“The award of contracts to private organisations to protect against the vandalisation of pipelines raises fundamental questions about the sincerity of the advisers of the Government on security issues. The open and seeming enthusiastic embrace of this oddity, despite the constant and consistent avowal of the readiness by the Security Agencies, in particular the Navy, to contain the pervasive and deepening crises of breaches and threats to lives and property, attracts the charge of insincerity bordering, deplorably, on dubiety. If the State Governments, which are keenly desirous of protecting their citizens, establish ancillary security outfits and there has been pronounced reluctance, if not outright refusal, to consider permitting them to bear arms for the sole purpose of defence, granting private individuals and or Organisations unfettered access to assault weapons suggests, curiously, deep-seated suspicion and distrust between the Federal Government and the presumed federating units.

“The engagement of private organisations to handle serious security challenges reinforces the belief that the whole defence architecture in the country needs an urgent overhaul. The Federal Government cannot be seen to be playing the Ostrich in this regard, he stated.