In the face of mounting attacks on communities in Northwest Kaduna State of Nigeria, state authorities have discounted the efforts of citizen guards who put their lives on the line to defend their communities.
Governor Uba Sani said on Monday that the citizen guards, or vigilantes as they are locally called, with their homemade single-shot pipe guns, are no match for the terrorists who invade communities with assault- and sniper rifles.
“Vigilance service cannot hold anything more than pump actions, and these bandits, they come around with AK-47s and even more sophisticated weapons,” said the Governor.
Yet, TruthNigeria has reported several cases when citizen guards stood firm against Ak-47s, leaving the terrorists no other choice but to retreat. In some cases, the citizen guard heroes are killed repelling a terrorist attack.
Citizen guards are the first line of defense in embattled rural settlements in the war-ravaged nation of Nigeria as police and military units often arrive too late to help victims.
But Governor Sani called upon the citizen guards to play an intelligence role only. “They can only work with the police and all the relevant security agencies to help them with intelligence,” he said.
—Ezinwanne Onwuka reports for TruthNigeria from Abuja.
