Ondo governor Rotimi Akeredolu says his government would arm the local security network Amotekun Corps with sophisticated weapons to protect the people. 

“We want to reiterate that what is sauce for the goose, is sauce for the gander. Ondo State government under the doctrine of necessity has decided to fulfill its legal, constitutional and moral duty to the citizens of the state, by acquiring arms to protect them,” Mr Akeredolu said. 

The governor, dropped the hint on Thursday in a statement, while reacting to a video showing the security outfit in Katsina, in the northern region of the country, obtaining the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari to bear Ak47 rifles. 

Peoples Gazette could not immediately verify the authenticity of the video which has continued to generate wide reactions on social media, especially from the people of the southern region who saw Mr Buhari as being sectional in his policies. 

Mr Akeredolu wondered why the Amotekun Corps, a South-West regional security outfit, could not bear arms, despite continuous call for such, but her counterpart in Katsina, the president’s home state, established to tame bandits and terrorists, are bearing assorted weapons. 

“This is more so, given that the bandits have an unchecked access to sophisticated weapons. The State government cannot look on while its citizens are being terrorised and murdered with impunity. We will defend our people,” he declared in the statement obtained by The Gazette. 

The governor, who is a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) with Mr Buhari, had also said the denial of the right of the Amotekun Corps to bear arms to protect the people of the state violated the tenets of federalism. 

Mr Akeredolu, alongside his colleagues in the South-West, had approached the Buhari regime to grant approval for the Amotekun operatives to bear arms to effectively tackle the myriad of security challenges ranging from kidnapping, banditry, cultism among other challenges, confronting the South-West region. 

Abuja flatly refused.

Ondo, Ekiti, Ogun and Oyo states have since kick-started the operations of the security outfit endorsed by the governments of the six South-West states, founded in 2020, without the needed machinery to combat the criminals.