The Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore herdsmen group has said the support for the South-West security outfit, Amotekun, shows how primitive Yoruba people are in politics.
The National Secretary of the group, Alhassan Saleh, said this during Channels Television’s ‘Sunrise Daily’ programme on Monday.
Saleh said it was unfortunate that both the Yoruba intelligentsia and political class could support such an initiative which seeks to curb the activities of herdsmen in the region.
When asked if he indeed told The PUNCH last week that support for Amotekun could cost the South-West the Presidency in 2023, Saleh admitted saying so but said it was not blackmail.
He said, “It is not blackmail. Unfortunately, with very strong apology to my South-West friends, despite the education of the Yoruba people, they still remain the most primitive in terms of politics. They are not tolerant to opposition and if you allow them to have an ethnic army, definitely there will be fear from Nigerians.”
Saleh recalled that in Lagos during the 2019 governorship elections, many persons in Igbo dominated areas were not allowed to vote because of the level of intolerance.
He said if Amotekun is allowed to see the light of day, worse may happen.
“We know what happened in Lagos during the last elections. The Igbo were denied voting and the oba even threatened to throw them into the lagoon. So, if you now have a Yoruba ethnic militia, what do you think will happen?” he asked.
The Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore secretary was, however, cautioned by the Channels anchor, Chamberlain Usoh, who asked him to be civil in his speech.
Saleh, who adamantly insisted that Amotekun was an ethnic militia, wondered if persons of other tribes would be recruited into Amotekun.
He called on the Federal Government not to allow the security outfit to begin operation.
When asked why Sharia Police, Hisbah, and the Civilian Joint Task Force in North-East were allowed to operate in the North-East, Saleh said they were backed by law and were working in concert with the police.
“Hisbah is legal because it is backed by law. That is clearly different from what you have now as Amotekun,” he said.
