Counter and Alternative Narratives Creation on Amotekun: A Hindsight from Newsmakers and Public

Prologue

From May 2011 to February 2020, series of reports have indicated the number of people killed due to high level of insecurity across the country. In 2015, prior to the general elections, agitation was high on the need to have adequate measures for the security of lives and property by the concerned stakeholders. A few weeks to the 2019 general elections, issues were equally raised concerning the activities of some armed groups, including Boko Haram’s endless attacks on people and businesses in the northern region.

According to the new statistics, the outcome of the attacks has been the killing of 36,932. To contain the soft attacks being launched by some armed groups in the south-west region, states in the region through Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN), held security summit. The summit resulted in a communique and finalization of a regional security network. The launching of the initiative attracted mixed reactions from government official, experts and ordinary citizens.

This piece presents the category of people who expressed their views on the issues that trailed the launching of the initiative in the region. Having examined the select reports published by the Nigerian newspapers between January 19 and January 22, 2020, it is obvious that regionalization was stressed within the attitudinal disposition towards the security network [see Exhibits for the details].

Exhibit 1: Select Newspapers’ Headlines

Exhibit 2: Category of Newsmakers

Exhibit 3: Newsmakers and Public Interest

Exhibit 4: Attitudinal Disposition

Exhibit 5: Region of Attitudinal Disposition