Amotekun: Tinubu Should’ve Kept Quiet Instead Of Speaking With ‘Forked Tongue’ – Afenifere

The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has come under the hammer of the Afenifere Yoruba socio-cultural group over his sixty-three-paragraph statement on the controversial South West security outfit dubbed ‘Operation Amotekun’.

Tinubu finally spoke on the security outfit that was declared illegal by the federal government after a prolonged silence. The outfit had been launched on January 9 by governors from the South West region to complement efforts of security agencies.

THE WHISTLER reported how Tinubu, in the statement he issued on Wednesday, refused to take sides with the South West governors nor the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, who declared the outfit illegal.

“I do not see malign intent in the differences of opinion between the SW Governors as authors of Amotekun and the Attorney-General as the primary law enforcement officer of the Federal Government,” the former Lagos governors had said, insisting that the governors and the AGF must meet and come to terms.

But reacting through its National Publicity Secretary, Yinka Odumakin, the Afenifere said Tinubu’s statement lacked substance.

The group accused the APC leader of speaking in a “forked tongue” by failing to firmly stand behind the South West governor’s quest defend their people.

Odumakin, who spoke to Punch, recalled how President Muhammadu Buhari  visited the then Oyo State Governor, Lam Adesina, to protest the alleged killing of Fulani herdsmen in the state.

“Maybe, he (Tinubu) should have kept quiet. This is not the time to speak in a forked tongue. What is the reason? You are afraid of Buhari?” he queried.

“In 2001, when there was a crisis between herdsmen and farmers, what did Buhari do? He went to Ibadan and told Governor Lam Adesina ‘your people are killing my people.’

“In 2013, what did Buhari do? He told President Goodluck Jonathan you can’t declare amnesty for Niger Delta militants while killing Boko Haram. Attack against Boko Haram is an attack against the North.

“We are being killed for months, our women are being raped. Now, our governors are taking a token measure to secure our people. At this point, if you can’t speak for the people, it is better to keep quiet. We are not impressed.”

On his party, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, an elder statesman and leader of Afenifere, claimed that Tinubu reacted the way he did because of his presidential ambition in 2023.

Meanwhile, the APC leader had said he deliberately maintained silence all along in order not to fulfil the wish of those who wanted him to “misspeak or misstep” by issuing a statement in haste.