With a firm commitment to enhancing the proficiency of the personnel within the Oyo State Security Network Agency, also known as the Amotekun Corps, the Oyo State Government has orchestrated a comprehensive three-day training workshop.
The essence of this training initiative is to refine and fortify the intelligence-gathering and investigative aptitude of the Amotekun Corps. This preparation is geared towards empowering them to proactively thwart criminal activities before they materialize.
Inaugurating the training, Governor ‘Seyi Makinde, who was represented by the Chief of Staff, Otunba Segun Ogunwuyi, highlighted the paramount importance of intelligence as the most effective tool in precluding criminal acts.
Hosted at the Amotekun State Headquarters in Moniya, Ibadan, the governor underscored the necessity to integrate intelligence collection and analysis with conventional methods of combating crime.
Governor Makinde extended his commendations to the leadership and personnel of the Amotekun Corps for their commendable conduct and collaborative efforts with other security agencies, contributing significantly to safeguarding the lives and property of the state’s residents.
He added that with good leadership, the state has been able to prove to the whole world that “it is possible for the conventional Police, DSS, and others to work with our own home-grown Amotekun Corps.”
The governor said: “Obviously, we have experts here and I am only here to declare the workshop open. Security intelligence gathering is an act of collecting, standardizing, and analyzing data. It is a great tool in crime prevention as it enables crimes to be nipped in the bud even before they are committed.
“It is important to apply intelligence gathering to the conventional method of fighting crime. If we just go about with guns and cutlasses and say we are fighting crime, I am sorry, we have not done anything. If we put our minds to gathering intelligence, a lot of crimes will not even be committed in the first place.
“So, that is why it is good for us to be at this workshop, hear from the experts, and take that knowledge back home.
“I want to wish you well and enjoin you all to use the opportunity this three-day workshop will offer and utilize it to make our dear state safer.
“The participants were selected from the 33 local government areas, which means we want safety across the board in the state. So, with the training, we expected them to go back home and become trainers of other Amotekun Corps.”
During his speech, the Commandant of Oyo State Amotekun, Col. Olayinka Olayanju (Rtd), expressed that the training was organized to improve the capacity of the Corps. This is because the government recognizes the significance of enhancing its operational engagement with the community to ensure greater efficiency.
Additionally, he stated that the government invited experienced facilitators from across different African countries to provide insights into local security intelligence-gathering. It is well-known that preventing and solving crimes becomes easier when the information collection method is effective and of high quality.
The Commandant said: “If you have observed, we started a series of training last month, which was aimed at empowering the capacity of our men for operational efficiency.
“We started with how to engage with the community and time analysis. And for you to be able to effectively perform those roles, we consider it to be very important to enhance the capacity of our men in intelligence gathering.
“Apart from the fact that the governor happens to be our father, during his inauguration speech to usher in Omituntun 2.0, he specifically mentioned that he would do all within his power to enhance the capacity of all the security agencies, Amotekun in particular.
“I can tell you that most of the people you are seeing here have operated outside the country because the concept of Amotekun is purely local—because you know the people, and understand their verbal and non-verbal language. That was why we decided to bring in these people, who are versed in this area.”
Olayanju further charged participants to ensure they make use of the knowledge garnered in the course of the workshop for their effectiveness and efficiency during operations.
Speaking with newsmen shortly after the training, Col. Olayanju (Rtd) maintained that at the end of the training, the Amotekun Corps’ approach to doing their jobs would be different, saying: “I expect that, after this training, when they hear there are cases of kidnapping in a particular area, they should be able to go out there, sieve and process such information and come out with intelligence, which would be used to plan how to intercept the kidnappers.
“Another importance of what we are doing is, we do not, in most cases, want to be reactive. We don’t want crime to take place before we take action. They will now know that it is cost-effective for them to prevent crime. And the only way they can do that is to be able to detect the crime before it takes place.”
