Insecurity: Bauchi Gov commends local hunters, vigilante groups

The Governor announced the state government’s donation of the sum of £100 million on Saturday in appreciation of their outstanding performance in maintaining peace and security in the state. He made the announcement when he received members of the joint local security vigilantes who visited him at the Government House, Bauchi, led by the Commander General of the Quasi-security group, Aliyu Umar Shayi.

Bala Mohammed also urged the joint local security vigilantes to make good use of the funds by purchasing the necessary materials and equipment that would assist them in excelling in their operations. He emphasized that the donation would go a long way towards supporting them in effectively discharging their local security services to safeguard the state against all forms of crimes and criminal activities for the development of the state.

The Governor expressed, “On behalf of the Government and the good people of Bauchi State, I want to use this medium to appreciate the sacrifices of our vigilante groups towards securing our forests across the state against criminal activities.”

He added, “The relative peace that we are enjoying across the state has attracted investors to our state for massive investment in critical sectors of the economy.”

“As the Government, we are ready to sustain our partnership and support to all the security agencies as well as the vigilantes to complement the efforts and unwavering commitment of our administration in the area of security,” he added.

The Governor assured that the government would continue to support the security agencies, including the vigilantes, for the security of the state. He directed the newly established Ministry of Internal Security to remain focused on initiating security strategies to achieve the desired objectives.

While speaking earlier, the Commander General of the Hunters group, Aliyu Umar Shayi, said that his group is working with over 70,000 other vigilante groups across the 20 local government areas of the state.

He acknowledged the Governor’s support to vigilante groups in the discharge of their voluntary services.

Umar Shayi stated that the plan of the state government to recruit over 20,000 youths into the vigilante and youth empowerment Agency would enable it to work with conventional security agencies to enhance security and ensure the total maintenance of peace in the state.