Nasarawa state government has been urged to give formal approval for the operation of vigilante in all areas of the state.
Apart having the full approval to operate in complementing the efforts of the conventional security organisations, the chairman, Masaka vigilante Group, Dr Bartholomew Idowu, would expect members of the group to place on government’s pay roll.
Idowu told Blueprint during a chat that the vigilance group despite being a special security apparatus, had the capacity of following criminal elements up to their door steps given their full knowledge of their domain, a feat, he believed, the “police can’t easily attain.”
He argued that all over the globe today, the issue of community policing had become the watchword, wondering why the country would be an exception to what had become the global trend in beefing up security and checkmating criminality around localities.
He said: “In the past, a town like Masaka up market was very corrupt and full of criminal elements. By 2019 the area was very corrupt; we spoke and said the way things are going is bad; then you can’t send your daughter to go and buy something for you, even old women were raped in broad day light.”
