Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar has thrown his weight behind Operation Amotekun, a security outfit launched by governors of Southwest.
This is despite the Federal Government describing it as illegal which was made known by the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.
According to Atiku, the protection of lives and properties is the responsibility of government at all levels.
A statement made available by his media aide, Paul Ibe, reads:
“In carrying out this function, the state employs different layers of measures to ensure effective and efficient policing. It is without doubt that in the past decade particularly, the current policing administration in our dear country had been stretched to its limits and it is obvious that the reality of our domestic security upheaval will demand of us to recalibrate our police systems.
“In the present day Nigeria, there is hardly any state of the federation that does not contend with some type of security challenges.
“Because our security challenges are diverse in forms and impacts, it is thus incumbent that centrally controlled police architecture cannot exclusively deal with those challenges.
“Consequently, there is need for the creation of additional policing structures in the country to address the rapidly growing challenges of insecurity and crime,” Atiku said.