Governor Abubakar Sani Bello has promised to arm vigilance groups, in Niger State, with pump-action guns to enable them confront bandits and address other security threats.
The governor spoke at Kasuwan Garba in Mariga Local Government Area of the state when he met with over 200 members of the vigilance group in the area.
He said that the security volunteer groups would be armed to confront “these enemies of the people across the state.”
The visit was part of his morale booster for the vigilante groups across the state.
Attacks by bandits occasioned by killings and kidnappings are now a recurring decimal in the region, with the abductions of students adding a new dimension to the fragile security situation.
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Recall that some bandits in Niger and other states in the North West have called for the disbanding of the vigilance groups, saying that was the only condition for them to lay down their arms and embrace peace.
But Governor Bello has remained adamant, declaring that, henceforth, all vigilance groups in the state would be provided with automatic pump-action guns to enable them to take the fight to the bandits wherever they were hiding.
The governor said there was no amount of threat from the bandits that would force the government to disband the vigilante groups in the state.
Said he, “We are not going to disband the vigilante as a result of threat from the bandits.
“Even when banditry activities in the state are stopped, the vigilante will still be there to provide security in the local government areas,” he said.
