EDITORIAL: Northern governors’ move to employ vigilantes, a vote of no confidence on Nigeria Police

Last month, the governors of the northern states in the country under the aegis of Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) agreed to employ the services of local hunters and vigilantes in tackling the security challenges in the region.

The Northern region, apart from the decade long insurgency and terrorism that characterized the northeast of the country has lately experienced banditry, kidnapping, cattle rustling and perennial clashes between pastoralists and farmers. These various security challenges have claimed many lives and properties.

In previous desperate move to find lasting solution to banditry and cattle rustling in the Northwest, the governors of Katsina state, Zamfara and other governors of the geopolitical zone granted amnesty to bandits, cattle rustlers and kidnappers in the region. The move saw to the release of kidnapped victims from the coffers of the kidnappers, and a temporal cease in banditry in the zone. The peace was only short-lived as the region was reignited with series of deadly banditry and insecurity again skyrocketed.

In all these, it is unfortunate that the Nigeria Police Force remains helpless in salvaging the region of insecurity it plunged into. Initially, when the governors announced the move for a peace treaty, IMPACT NEWS warned of the dangers of dining with the devil, and urged the governors to rescind their decision which would lead to no good. We have been vindicated. It is rather unfortunate that the governors are back in the same quagmire they shied away from in the first instance.

Incorporating the service of local hunters and vigilantes in securing lives and properties is not a bad idea in the face of these challenges. But the Nigeria police force should see the move of the governor as a vote of no confidence on the force in the region.

As it stands, the various geopolitical zones in the country are already taking their security destiny in their hands with the Southwest launch of Amotekun and the Southeast on the verge of launching its regional security outfit.

We urge the Federal Government to provide adequate support for the Nigeria Police Force to counter the various security challenges in the country. More also, the governors of the Northern states should maintain utmost sincerity in this novel phase of security provision in the region.

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