In order to address the growing insecurity in the state, the Ondo State House of Assembly says it has started the process of amending the law that created the State Security Network Agency, also known as Amotekun.
The spokesperson for the Assembly, Gbenga Omole, made this statement on Saturday outside of the Oka Security Summit, which was hosted by the Oka community in the Akoko South-West Local Government area.
The law would give the Amotekun corps the authority to have access to better technology and more advanced weapons to address security challenges, according to Omole, a member of the House Committee on Security.
"We (the Assembly) have been doing our best; recently, we have had to make changes to the Amotekun law.
“We are looking at the law to give more backings to Amotekun in terms of procurement of more sophisticated weapons and more technology to be deployed.
“So we are supporting the government (executive) in terms of security that law is under the process of being ammended now to give more power to Amotekun,” he said.
Oba Yusuf Adeleye, the Olubaka of Oka Kingdom, thanked community members for organising the summit and emphasised that security is everyone's responsibility.
“This is not the first time we are having this summit, but it is important to have this summit now, considering the various security challenges that we have been having and it is important to do this because we have to be vigilant now.
“Security committees have been established at various quarters in Oka and each households have been levied certain amount as government cannot do it alone.
“We have to give kudos to the state government for establishing Amotekun corps and we give kudos to other security operatives.
“What happened in Owo on June 5 where unknown gunmen came to a church and killed over 40 people is an eye opener that we have to be up and doing.
“We have to be vigilant; we have to know people around us; we have to take issue of security serious more than ever because what happened in Owo could happen anywhere. We have to be proactive,” the traditional ruler said.
Speaking at the summit, a retired Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Chief Adewole Ajakaiye, called for cooperation between the citizens and security agencies.
According to Ajakaye, “people must take their security serious; so when someone is going out, you must be prepared for anything.
“It will be foolish for anybody to travel early in the morning and in the night, If you are traveling, arm yourself with dress you can run with,” he said.