Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has expressed willingness to work with and support hunters in the state towards addressing banditry and kidnapping.
Gov Sule made this known while hosting members of the Hunters Group of Nigeria in the state at the government house.
According to the governor, though hunters in the state have been jointly working with security agencies to tackle banditry and kidnapping, his dream is to see how government can work closely with the hunters so that they can be compensated for putting their lives on the line.
The governor, however, called on the group to co-opt other hunters that were not part of the association for easy coordination.
He said, “It’s normal to have splinter groups in such associations, but I will call on you, to see how to co-opt all those people we are working with. We really have a lot of respect for them.”
The governor recalled that few months back he visited some of hunters that got wounded and were receiving treatment at a hospital.
He said, unlike states in the South West where they have the Amotekun security outfit, Nasarawa had since adopted community policing, with most of the members trained in Makurdi in Benue State, noting that some hunters were part of the community policing team.
He told the hunters that, “I’m looking forward to how we can work with you in Nasarawa State.”
Earlier, the Commandant General of the Hunters Group of Nigeria, Ambassador Joshua Shateme, said they were at the government house to familiarise themselves with the governor over his feat in tackling security issues, as well as look for avenues to work with him.
