The Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN), codenamed Operation Amotekun ( Yoruba for "Leopard" or "Cheetah") and simply known as the Amotekun, is a security outfit based in all the six states of the South Western,

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, responsible for curbing insecurity in the region. It was founded on 9 January 2020 in

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the List of Nigerian cities by population, third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano (city), Kano, with a total populatio ...

Oyo State Oyo is a States of Nigeria, state in South West (Nigeria), southwestern Nigeria. Its capital is Ibadan, the List of Nigerian cities by population, third most populous city in the country and formerly the second most populous city in Africa. Oyo ...

, Nigeria as the first regional security outfit initiated by a geopolitical zone in Nigeria.

History

Amotekun is a Yoruba word that means "One that looks like a leopard," leopard being translated to "amotekun." Because of this, Amotekun properly means

cheetah The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large Felidae, cat and the Fastest animals, fastest land animal. It has a tawny to creamy white or pale buff fur that is marked with evenly spaced, solid black spots. The head is small and rounded, wit ...

, but as in this case, it is often mistransliterated to leopard. Operation Amotekun (Leopard) was established on 9 January 2020 by the six state governors of all the South Western states of Nigeria, namely;

Lagos State Lagos State (, ) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West, Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, Nigerian states, Lagos is the second List of Nigerian states by population, most populous state but the List of Nigerian states by area, smallest ...

Ogun State Ogun State is a state in southwestern Nigeria. It is bordered to the south by Lagos State and the Bight of Benin, to the east by Ondo State, and to the north by Oyo and Osun states while its western border forms part of the national borde ...

Ondo State Ondo () is a States of Nigeria, state in Points of the compass, southwestern Nigeria. It was created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State (Nigeria), Western State. Ondo borders Ekiti State to the north, Kogi State to the northeast fo ...

Osun State Osun (; ), is a state in southwestern Nigeria; bounded to the east by Ekiti and Ondo states for 84 km and for 78 km respectively, to the north by Kwara State for 73 km, to the south by Ogun State for 84 km and to the wes ...

and

Ekiti State Ekiti () is a state in southwestern Nigeria, bordered to the North by Kwara State for 61 km, to the Northeast by Kogi State for 92 km, to the South and Southeast by Ondo State, and to the West by Osun State for 84 km. Named for the Ekiti ...

. The establishment of the security outfit was subject to the decision by all the six state governors at the regional security summit held in

, Nigeria in June 2019 through Development Agenda for

Western Nigeria The former Western State of Nigeria was formed in 1967 when the Western Region was subdivided into the states of Lagos and Western State. Its capital was Ibadan, which was the capital of the old region. The largest ethnic group here are the Yoruba. ...

Commission (DAWN). In support of the outfit, all the six state governors contributed 20 vehicles each, except Oyo that contributed 33 vehicles, in order to assist the operatives in carrying out their duties, making a total of 133 vehicles for the startup, they also procured 100 units of motorcycles each, making a total of 600 motorcycles. The members of the outfit were drawn from local

hunters Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

, the

Oodua Peoples Congress The Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) is a Yoruba nationalist, regionalist, and vigilante organization in Nigeria. It is also known as the Oodua Liberation Movement (OLM) or the Revolutionary Council of Nigeria. It is based in southwestern Nigeria ...

(OPC), Agbekoya,

Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) is a paramilitary agency in Nigeria, established in 1967 and formally recognized by an Act of Parliament in 2003. The Corps is tasked with protecting lives and properties in partnership with ...

(NSCDC) and vigilante group.

Operation

The operatives of the security outfit will assist police, other security agencies and traditional rulers in combating terrorism, banditry, armed robbery, kidnapping and also help in settling herdsmen and farmers contentions in the region. For the startup, Lagos, Osun and Ekiti states, recruited 1,320 operatives for the operation, while they will carry dane guns like local hunters, operating in about 52 deadly blackspots all over the southwest region.

Controversy

On 13 January 2020, the Nigeria police warned that they will arrest any operative of the outfit that carries illegal arms. On 14 January 2020, the

Federal government of Nigeria The federal government of Nigeria is composed of three distinct branches: the executive, the legislative, and the judicial, whose powers are vested and bestowed upon by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. One of the primary f ...

declared Operation Amotekun as an illegal operation, stating that it is not backed by the

Nigerian constitution Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

. On 23 January 2020, the vice president of Nigeria,

Yemi Osinbajo Oluyemi Oluleke Osinbajo (born 8 March 1957) is a Nigerian lawyer, professor, and politician who served as the 14th vice president of Nigeria from 2015 to 2023. A member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he previously served as Attorney ...

, met with the six state governors of the south western Nigeria and they all agreed to work together towards the progress of Operation Amotekun.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Operation Amotekun Counterterrorism in Nigeria Law enforcement in Nigeria Vigilantes

History

Operation

Controversy

See also

References