The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, announced the suspension of the state-owned security organization known as the “Edo State Security Network (ESSN).” The Edo State Government has taken issue with this announcement.
Remembers that on Wednesday, the Inspector General of Police declared the indefinite suspension of the security detail at the planned stakeholders’ meeting held by the Independent National Electoral Commission in advance of the September 21, 2024, governorship election in Benin City.
Crusoe Osagie, Special Adviser on Media Project to Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki, responded to the announcement by stating that the Edo Security Corps was established by the Edo State House of Assembly and that the IGP is not authorized by the constitution to suspend it. He stated that the IGP at the Independent
At the Wednesday, September 11, stakeholders’ meeting of the National Electoral Commission (INEC), it was declared that the organization had been suspended in advance of the Edo State governorship election scheduled for September 21.
“The Edo State government insists that the ESC is a body set up by law passed by the Edo State House of Assembly.
This effectively means that the IGP is terminating the Western Nigeria Security Network, sometimes referred to as Operation Amotekun, in advance of the Ondo State gubernatorial election scheduled for the following month. “Government notes that the IGP’s declaration is unconstitutional, as Sections 11(1) and 11(2) grant the State House of Assembly the authority to establish mechanisms for public safety and state security,” he stated.
He did, however, add that the State Governor has ordered all ESC officials to take a leave of absence from September 11 to September 23, 2024, following the election, in the interest of maintaining calm.
