Presidency Dashes Hope Of Arming Amotekun, Other Regional Security Outfits, Says No State Has Approval For Automatic Weapons
The Evangelist edition
September 27, 2022
By Innocent OWEH
The presidency on Tuesday, reacted to demands by the Ondo State government that the state security outfit be armed to enable it fight insecurity.
Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Garba Shehu reacted when he said the Presidency wishes to strongly assert that there is no state, not Katsina, not any other state in the federation, that has been authorized to procure automatic weapons for their security outfits.
Holding forth for the Buhari administration, Shehu said under this administration, the President has repeatedly made it clear that nobody is allowed to illegally carry AK-47 or any other automatic weapons and that they must surrender them.
He said where they fail to do so, the law enforcement agencies have been given clear directives to deal with any such outlaws.
According to the presidency, under the existing regulations, only the Office of the National Security Adviser can issue such authorization, upon proper clearance by the President and Commander-in-Chief and as it is at this moment, no such approvals have been issued to any state government.
“In the specific Katsina State often cited, the Governor, Aminu Bello Masari wrote to explain that the administration invited the Provost of the Civil Defence Training College in Katsina to train their Vigilantes for a five-day period “in the handling and operations of Pump Action Rifles,” emphasizing that “the Vigilantes were not trained to take over the responsibilities of the security agencies of the Federal Government of Nigeria but to assist them,” he explained further.
He noted that the Presidency appreciates the active involvement of states with security matters.
