Insecurity: Kaduna Gov’t recruits fresh 7,000 vigilantes to fight banditry

Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, has said his administration decided to recruit 7,000 personnel into the State’s vigilante service to end banditry across the state.

Speaking at the flag-off ceremony for the commencement of training for the 7,000 recruits at the Police College Kaduna on Saturday evening, the Governor said the recruits who were drawn from all the local government areas of the State, would be a major step towards fulfilling his promise to the good people of the State.

The training of the newly recruited vigilantes began hours after bandits attacked a local mosque in Ikara, killing worshippers.

According to him, his administration’s blueprint is committed to strengthening the manpower and overall operational capacity of the Kaduna Vigilance Service (KADVS).

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Since its establishment, KADVS has been working with security agencies to degrade criminal elements.”

“But we face the challenge of inadequate personnel to successfully wage the battle against bandits and other criminal elements.

“It is for this reason that our administration decided to recruit 7,000 personnel into the Kaduna Vigilance Service (KADVS),” he said.

He said the recruitment and screening of the trainees were the collaborative efforts of their Local Government chairmen, traditional and religious leaders as key stakeholders at the grassroots level, and security agencies.

Governor Uba said the KADVS is a complementary security outfit to assist the security agencies with actionable intelligence, adding that with their knowledge of the local environment, bandits would have no hiding place.

He expressed confidence that they would all be found worthy of being enlisted in the Service.

The governor, however, warned them not to violate the rights of the citizens when they began operations.

He reminded them that KADVS was set up to protect the people, not to violate their rights, adding that he would not hesitate to discipline any person who flouts the operational guidelines or code of conduct of the Service.