STRENGTHENING OF VIGILANTE GROUPS IN ABIA STATE

By Emeka Nwosu, PhD.

For some time now, there have been heightened cases of terrorist attacks by criminal herdsmen, bandits, Boko Haram insurgents and kidnapping rings in different parts of the country. The gory details coming out from the inhuman activities of land-grabbing Fulani herders within the Middle Belt States of Benue and Plateau are presently commanding national and global attention.

The incessant killings of the natives and their displacement from their ancestral homes in Plateau and Benue have continued unabated. A week ago, over two hundred villagers in Yelewata in Guma Local Government Area of Benue, including women, and children were slaughtered by the invading herdsmen. The outrage generated by these atrocious acts compelled the President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to undertake an unscheduled visit to Makurdi to commiserate with the government and people of Benue and seek a lasting solution to the recurring killings.

Beyond the States in the Middle Belt, these marauding Fulani herder terrorists are making incursions into the Southern parts of Nigeria, including the South East. For quite a while, the agrarian community of Eha-Amufu in Isi Uzo Local Government Area of Enugu State has been consistently under attack by the killer herdsmen with the security agencies doing little to contain the ugly situation. And only recently, they invaded some villages in Isuochi, Abia State, leaving blood and sorrow on their trails. Some of the villagers were reportedly kidnapped for ransom.

This development is worrisome, considering the commendable efforts of the Otti administration to tame insecurity in the State, particularly in the once notorious Umunneochi-Isuikwuato axis. It will be recalled that the Lokpanta and Isuochi corridor used to be the epicenter of kidnappings and killings by these criminal herdsmen until Otti moved into the area and dealt with the menace. The makeshift settlements within the Cattle Market in Lokpanta which were the hideouts and staging posts of these criminal elements were demolished and fenced off, thus denying them the space to operate.
The Otti administration has since continued to maintain security presence along that vital axis of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway.

The resurgence of the activities of these marauding herdsmen gives cause for concern, and calls for swift response from Abia State Government. It is heartwarming to note that the Otti-led administration is not resting on its oars to ensure that the State is secure. In the light of the expanding activities of these killer herdsmen and other sundry criminal elements, the Government has set up the Abia Homeland Security Watch, a State-wide vigilante outfit to help fight insecurity and keep the State free from the criminal activities of the blood thirsty herders.

The security outfit which is being supervised by the Ministry of Homeland Security is currently recruiting guards to police the State boundaries and protect forest and farms.
The government is also streamlining all the vigilante groups in the State to ensure that they are properly registered and coordinated. The whole idea is to ensure that they operate within the bounds of law. It is the expectation of the people of Abia that these security outfits would be properly equipped with arms and modern communication gadgets, including drones to enable them discharge their duty most effectively.

The entire populace of Abia should be sensitized to give support to the vigilante groups by volunteering information and intelligence that would enable the groups deliver on their mandate. All hands must be on the deck to ensure that no inch of our forests is allowed to be a staging camp by killer herdsmen, kidnappers and other criminal elements by whatsoever name called.

The Abia State Government deserves commendation for the current security initiative. It is the constitutional responsibility of government to provide for the security and welfare of the people. By putting these security structures in place, Governor Alex Otti has demonstrated that the security of the people of Abia is of utmost priority to his administration. The people should unite behind the initiative and encourage the government to make Abia a no-go area for criminals of all hue.

The people of Abia need a peaceful environment to continue to enjoy the various dividends of democracy being provided by the performing government of Otti.
Any initiative by government that would foster a climate of peace and security is heartily welcomed and must be supported. What Otti has done is a proactive and preemptive approach which would go a long way in ensuring that the State is not easily vulnerable. May Abia continue to prevail!

Dr.Nwosu, a Public Affairs Analyst, writes from Umuahia.
Email: cdnwosu2@gmail.com