As part of the measures to combat the increasing wave of banditry and rampant incidence of kidnappings, the Zamfara State Government has approved the immediate recruitment of 8,500 people to assist in the fight against the perpetrators of violence in the state.
Governor Abdulazeez Yari said the recruitment of the persons became imperative considering the security situation in the state and to augment the inadequate number of security agents working in the state.
According to the governor, 500 people will be recruited from each of the 17 emirate councils of the state, bringing the total number to 8500 persons, who will serve as civilian joint task force members.
He maintained that each of them would be receiving the sum of N15,000 monthly as allowance in addition to other incentives.
Those to be recruited, according to the governor, must be thoroughly screened by their various emirate councils in order to ensure that only people of good character were selected to serve in the task force.
Governor Yari further explained that after the recruitment the selected persons, who would undergo a special training to be conducted by the security personnel and later deployed in various locations in the state, would work hand-in-hand with the police, the military and other relevant security agencies in order to effectively combat the crimes currently ravaging the state.
“The Civilian Joint Task Force will be of great assistance to the security agencies, particularly with regards to getting useful information about the criminals as well as their hideouts. This system has worked in some states; as such, we want to try the same method,” he said.
The governor stated that the number of security agencies working in the state was grossly inadequate to fight the bandits, making the involvement of civilians in the fight against the criminals imperative.
Governor Yari, however, commended President Muhammadu Buhari for sending additional 1000 soldiers to the state and noted that when he (Buhari) came to power Zamfara did not have up to 200 soldiers.
The governor also pledged the sum of N1million naira for any person or group of persons that could arrest any person or group of persons in possession of AK47 rifles in any part of the state.
According to the Governor, “This would go a long way in reducing the number of Ak 47 in circulation and to a large extent, the rampant cases of kidnappings and other forms of crimes across the
state.”