Governor Abubakar Sani Bello has promised to arm the vigilante group in Niger State with pump-action guns to enable them to confront bandits and address other security threats.
Speaking at Kasuwan Garba in Mariga Local Government Area of the state when he met with over 200 members of the vigilante in the area, Bello said 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.
Some bandits in Niger and other states in the North West have called for the disbanding of the vigilante 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 vigilante 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.
“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.
Governor Bello has also said the Niger State government will not go into any form of negotiation with bandits nor pay ransom for the release of kidnapped victims in the state.
He assured that any bandit that repented and surrendered his weapon will be reintegrated into the society and settled to live a normal life.
He said, “There will be no dialogue but any of them that repents and surrenders his weapons will be forgiven and we will compensate such bandits to live normal life in the society.”
The governor said he was in Kasuwan Garba, which is one of the areas under siege by constant banditry attacks, to identify with the vigilante members for the loss of their members who were killed while confronting the criminals.
While commending the efforts of vigilante members in the area, he urged them not to relent until the war was completely won.
“I understand that there is peace here now but we will not relent because we will not allow them (bandits) to succeed,” he said.
Earlier, the Chairman of Mariga Local Government Area, Alhaji Idris Suleiman, told the governor that 50 members of the vigilante picked from each of the four districts in the local government have successfully kept the activities of the bandits at bay, adding that “the people are having some level of peace across the 22 villages hitherto under siege by bandits.”
According to him, “The vigilantes are on top of the security situation in the area. What they need is modern equipment to be able to confront these bandits who are carrying automatic weapons.”