The Katsina State government has announced plans to arm 3,000 newly recruited vigilante operatives as part of measures to support security agencies in the ongoing onslaught against banditry attacks in the state.
Governor Aminu Bello Masari said this while receiving the newly posted Commissioner of Police, Shehu Usman Nadada, at the Government House.
He said the decision was to complement the efforts of conventional security personnel to ward off banditry attacks in the state.
He explained that the state government would arm the trained vigilantes through the Nigeria Police Force and using approved licensed weapons and other war equipment that are constitutionally allowed to enable them fight the criminal elements.
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He said: “The state government has institutionalised the vigilantes in the state by subjecting its members to vigorous training by security agencies with a view to arresting the security challenges bedevilling the state.
“In Katsina State, we have less than 6,000 policemen who are grossly inadequate and going by the statement of your predecessor, that under normal conditions we need 23,700 policemen to police Katsina but we have less than 6,000.”
Earlier, Nadada told the governor that he came to the state with new policing goals that would decisively deal with the scourge of banditry, kidnapping, cattle rustling, cybercrime and other criminality in the state.
He promised to work assiduously with other security agencies and critical stakeholders to ensure a hitch-free 2023 general election, adding that making the entire state safer remains his cardinal objective.