Afe Babalola, Falana berate Malami for declaring Operation Amotekun illegal

A Nigerian elder statesman and prominent lawyer, Afe Babalola, has condemned the declaration of the country’s attorney-general, Abubakar Malami, that ‘Amotekun’, the security outfit of the southwest, is illegal.

Babalola argued that there is no Nigerian law that forbids the establishment of such a security outfit, stressing that he disagrees with Malami because the formation of Amotekun is constitutional, especially as it has to do with concerns over public safety and protection of lives.

“There is no law in Nigeria which prevents citizens from being able to secure their lives and properties.

“Indeed without protecting the right to life and property, no other right can be exercised as one has to be alive to enforce other rights as guaranteed in the constitution,” Afe Babalola said.

The senior lawyer further argued that from stipulations in the constitution, the police does not have the monopoly of jurisdiction over the protection of lives and properties.

He also noted that various security bodies are in existence in many parts of Nigeria. He mentioned the Civilian-JTF and the Hisbah police as examples.

He noted that there are vigilantes who have carried out duties like the Nigeria police in many states of the federation.

“There is nowhere in the police act where a citizen is prohibited from being vigilant to protect his life or property either personally or together with other citizens,” Babalola said citing sections of the law to back his argument.

Similarly, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) has tackled the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, over his statement declaring Operation Amotekun illegal, stressing that the AGF should approach the Supreme Court if he believes Operation Amotekun is illegal as he claimed.

The senior lawyer advised the southwest governors to ignore Malami’s statement and proceed with Amotekun by enacting necessary laws to back it up, adding that Malami has no power to proscribe any organisation in the country.

Falana described Malami’s statement as discriminatory and hypocritical, explaining that two northern states, Kano and Zamfara, have a similar agency (Hisbah commission) which the AGF did not say anything about.