7th November, 2016
No fewer than 251 Vigilante members from Adamawa and Taraba have concluded a five-day Basic Intelligence Training organized by Nigerian Police in Yola.
Dr Murtala Aliyu, Adamawa Commander of Vigilante Group of Nigeria, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yola on Monday.
Aliyu said the training, conducted at the Mobile Police (MOPOL 14) Base in Yola, was to imbue in members, the necessary techniques to provide back-up to the police and other security agencies in curbing crime.
The chairman added that the training was to help members conform to standard security procedures during operations.
He lauded the support his members were enjoying from the general public in Adamawa.
The chairman, however, said the state and local governments were not doing enough to encourage the operations of vigilante groups.
Aliyu assured that, if fully supported, the vigilante members would play more effective role in intelligence gathering and crime prevention in the state.
He disclosed that the group would recruit more volunteers in 2017.
“Currently, Adamawa has 2, 800 members and we hope to increase the number in 2017,” the chairman said.
According to him, membership is voluntary but recruits must be responsible members of society endorsed by local chiefs and the police.
On discipline, the chairman said over 20 members had been sanctioned during the year for various offences, with some of them dismissed from membership of the group.