Reps may legalize Vigilante Group of Nigeria next week

The House of Representatives will next week commence the consideration of the report on a bill for the establishment of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN).
This is even as the Vigilante Group of Nigeria has said that the current arrangement and structures in the Nigeria Police cannot adequately tackle the security challenges facing the country.
Speaker Yakubu Dogara disclosed this yesterday after postponing the consideration before over 100 members of the group who were in the plenary session of the House to witness the consideration and passage of the bill seeking to establish the group.
The group, however, said it is through effective collaboration and partnership between the group and the police that such security challenges could be adequately addressed.
In a statement jointly signed by the VGN Commander General, Ali Sokoto, and the Chief of State of VGN, Navy Capt. A.B. Umar (rtd), VGN said the police also needed the cooperation of local communities to be able to tackle security challenges such as kidnapping and terrorism.
"There is no denying the fact that the level of crime has changed in Nigeria, from drugs to rape, gang violence to murder, burglary to armed robbery and kidnapping to terrorism.
"The nature of crimes like kidnapping and terrorism cannot be adequately tackled by the present conventional police structures and modus operandi without the cooperation of local community.
"Even the concept of centralized management of the police force has only helped to isolate it further from the public they are serving. In many cases, police officers are posted far away from their localities and are therefore 'strangers' in the community where they are serving," VGN said.
The group, which said it has offices in all the 774 local governments of Nigeria, added that "Pertinent and useful information will not be forthcoming from the public where the police are perceived as total 'strangers' by the public they are serving.
"The argument is not to support the proponents of the state police. In fact, the call for state police, like that of ethnic militia, is a call for anarchy and total fragmentation of the Nigerian nation.
"Consequently, police-VGN partnership and collaboration is the panacea to our present security challenges," they said.
Other members of the group, who were present at the National Assembly, were Mohammed Azare, Dr. Seyi Araromi, Jubrin Ali Sokoto, Ibrahim Salisu, Matthew Omojumi, Mohammed Kabiru, Adeyeye Kayode and Bishop Mercy Effiom.