A voluntary security outfit, Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN), has intensified the fight against cultism and other acts of criminality in Bayelsa State to ensure that the state is safe for the residents and those doing business there.
After the #EndSARS protest, cult-related violence and criminal activities have been on the increase in the state, but VGN said with their presence in all the communities and understanding of the terrain in the state, they have assisted police and other conventional security organisations to ensure the maintenance of peace and order in the state.
The state commandant of VGN, Mr Tolummbofa Akpoebibo Jonathan, while speaking with newsmen yesterday in Yenagoa, said that his men have already arrested several cultists, sea pirates and hoodlums in different parts of the state and handed them over to the police for further investigations.
He said: “With the little we have been doing, we have combated cultism in our communities and everybody is living in peace now. Before now, cultists operated freely in Bayelsa State; robbing innocent citizens of their valuables. But today, they have gone into hiding. We arrested and handed many of them over to the police for further investigations.
“In March this year, we foiled a kidnapping attempt in Agge River in Ekeremor Local Government Area; we arrested the speed boat whose occupants were trying to kidnap some persons, recovered pump action guns from them and handed over the suspects to the police. This was possible through our understanding of the Bayelsa terrain, the creeks and the waterways.”
