Gov. Bala to recruit 20,000 youths to tackle banditry
Story from Beatrice GONDYI, Bauchi
Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State has announced plans to recruit 20,000 youths to fight bandits in the state.
Speaking at the palace of the village head in the Lere community, the governor said the recruits would be trained by the police and military to tackle the menace of bandits.
He stated: “The time has come when we must take the destiny of our state in our hands. Whatever resources we have, we will take and use judiciously”.
Governor Mohammed also donated N10 million and 30 motorcycles to security operatives in recognition of their efforts to rescue kidnapped victims and fight banditry.
He applauded the vigilante in the Lere community for killing 67 suspected bandits and rescuing 28 victims, and promised to continue supporting the police and other security agencies, including the local vigilante, to tackle the banditry issue.
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However, the governor cautioned the vigilantes in Lere not to engage in extrajudicial killings or take the law into their own hands, stressing that the security agencies had faith in them.
“You have to make sure that we go by the rules of engagement”.
Earlier the Chairman Caretaker Committee of Tafawa Balewa Samila Wakili lamented that kidnapers armed robbers and bandits had carried out 41 attacks in the Lere community, thereby causing residents’ sleepless nights.
Wakili thanked the governor for his quick repose to the insecurity challenge in the area and urged the people to cooperate with the security agencies and the vigilantes to tackle the menace.
He said: “We, in Tafawa Balewa, have been plagued by great security challenges, especially of kidnappers and armed robbers among others.
“For over 41 days, there is no single day that people are not being kidnapped or our roads blocked by armed robbers, some of them are even killed. This has caused us great trouble.
“We kept meeting and discussing on how to address these issues and at the end of the day, commanders of vigilante and hunters saw that it was getting out of hand. They requested us to seek permission from security agencies to allow them to confront the bandits in the bushes”.
