Kaduna Residents Demand State Police To Curb Banditry, Kidnapping

Residents of Kaduna State have called on the Federal Government, to recruit, train and empower local vigilante groups to curb banditry and kidnapping as nationwide clamour mounts for the constitution of state police.

Some of the residents of the state who spoke with our correspondent, lamented the breakdown of security in the state, adding that the only solution to the challenge was the state police.

Steve Alegbe, a Kaduna resident, said local vigilante groups needed to be considered and upgraded to constitute the state police due to their familiarity with the people and communities.

According to him, local security agencies were in the best position to protect the lives and property of the locals.

“I will say the best thing is to employ vigilante (groups) and empower them because the process is safe. The state of insecurity in Kaduna State cannot be fought with local weapons. So, we advise the federal government to empower the local vigilantes with arms to enable them to fight. They should engage the vigilantes because they know the terrain and everyone here. The local weapons they currently carry around are not enough to fight terrorism,” he said.

For Ifeanyi Adimoha, another resident of Kaduna, the daily increase in the number of lives lost to terrorism in the state, is alarming.

He said, “They should empower local vigilantes because the loss of lives is increasing every day. This problem needs to be resolved once and for all. Vigilantes can’t match the bandits with local guns. And we have an increase in number of people that have volunteered to be part of the vigilante. If they are trained and educated, they will perform well”.

Ernest Osayamen explained that it had come to the time when the government needed to empower locals to fight bandits and kidnappers.

He also called for the local security groups to be upgraded to the state police.

“The government needs to come to the point where the vigilante should be empowered. They know the interior of the communities well. They should be engrafted into the security architecture; from vigilante groups to state police. They should be given sophisticated weapons, because these bandits carry weapons even better than those of the Army,” he said.

The Head of the Kaduna Vigilance Service, Brigadier General Umar Ibrahim, told our correspondent that a total of 2,729 personnel have been employed and are involved in the Safe Schools Initiative in the state. Three hundred security personnel are involved in securing primary health facilities in the state, while a total of 888 personnel are involved in securing the ministries and departments.

“The Governor within his first 100 days in office has recruited 7,500 personnel in addition to the existing 7,000 personnel already on ground; 7,500 security personnel working in the state is not a small number.

“Sometime in 2022, some of our men assisted the Army in fighting bandits in the state. We are ever-ready to serve. We are here to tell the Kaduna residents to sleep with their eyes closed because the executive governor has promised to empower us with vigilante vehicles, and, very soon, you will see an improvement in the state’s vigilante operations,” he said.