Insecurity in Yorubaland: Is Amotekun Still Effective in South-West?
Four years after its creation, the regional security outfit Amotekun (Operation Leopard) is still grappling with the hydra-headed security challenges in Nigeria’s South-West, as kidnappings, killings, and banditry continue to surge across Yorubaland. When the Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN), codenamed Operation Amotekun, was set up in 2020, it was launched with fanfare and optimism that it would tame the rising insecurity plaguing the Southwest. Four years on, however, stakeholders believe there has been a surge in crime and criminality within the region. Critical stakeholders, including traditional rulers, convened by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, recently confirmed the worsening security situation during a summit on insecurity. The summit observed that there have been organised, systematic attacks on traditional rulers and eminent sons and daughters of Yoruba land by suspected herders. According to the Council on Foreign Relations’ Nigeria […]