– MURIC’s director has said that there are some positive signals in the newly created Amotekun
– Ishaq Akintola said an investigation by MURIC has shown that Amotekun had Muslims as top members of its management team
– According to Akintola, the security outfit will enhance economic empowerment in Nigeria as a whole
The leadership of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has made a u-turn on the establishment of Western Nigeria Security Network code-named Amotekun by the governor of the southwest region.
The director of MURIC, Ishaq Akintola, in a statement on Thursday, January 30, said the Muslim organisation is now seeing positive signals in Amotekun.
Akintola’s recent statement comes a few days after he was faced with a backlash for condemning the establishment of the security outfit in the southwest.
He had alleged that the codename for the outfit, Amotekun is a Christain name and that Muslim cannot be recruited into the establishment.
However, in his new statement, Akintola said Muslims can now seek recruitment into Amotekun.
He said an investigation by MURIC has shown that Amotekun had Muslims as top members of its management team.
“There are positive signals emerging from the Amotekun camp. We have seen that the initial haste to form a regional security unit has been reduced. They are sitting down to map out strategies,” Akintola said.
He noted that the management of the outfit is currently putting together a legal framework to legalise the initiative which he described as good steps that were part of the areas of MURIC’s initial concern.
“Among the positive signals reaching us from the Amotekun camp is the unofficial but reliable information that there are Muslims among the 7-man management team in one of the south-west states. The government of the state of Osun has also declared that the operation is not designed to sideline Muslims. These revelations have informed our current stand on the issue,” Akintola said.
