Hunters, vigilante groups get intelligence training from police against Boko Haram

Hunters, vigilante groups get intelligence training from police against Boko Haram

- Local vigilante are to be trained in intelligence gathering in Adamawa and Taraba states

- Nigerian police have conducted a five-day basic intelligence gathering programme for 251 members

- The training would boost the capacity of the vigilante members by providing them with necessary techniques

Hunters, vigilante groups get intelligence training from police against Boko Haram
Nigeria Army

 

In a bid to curb the Boko Haram menace, the Nigerian police have conducted a five-day basic intelligence gathering programme for 251 members of vigilante groups from Adamawa and Taraba states.

The vigilante groups which are made up of local hunters, who have been indispensable to the Nigerian army in the continuing fight against Boko Haram.

The five-day training programme is aimed at helping the hunters become better at intelligence gathering. On Wednesday, November 9, Murtala Aliyu the state commander of the vigilantes while speaking at the mobile police 14 base in Yola, Adamawa state said the training was essential.

Aliyu said the training would boost the capacity of the vigilante members by providing them with necessary techniques to operate more effectively in supporting the police and other security agencies against the insurgency.

The state commander was also of the opinion that the training would help members conform to standards in their operations. He expressed his happiness for the  support his members were enjoying from the public in Adamawa.

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However he also lamented the state and local governments were not doing much to support the operation of his members. He explained that as people who mix with the public, the vigilante members if fully supported would play a more effective role in gathering intelligence that would help reduce crime to the minimum.

Mr Aliyu promised that his members would continue to contribute effectively contribute to national security using their presence in all the nooks and crannies of the states in which they reside.

He went on to roll out plans to recruit more members in Adamawa next year. He said: "Currently, Adamawa has 2,800 members and we hope to increase the number next year."

Speaking on the recruitment process, he revealed that the membership is voluntary, but also that the intending recruits must be responsible members of society and have their applications endorsed by their ward, village or district heads and divisional police officers.

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“Some of our members are also hunters," he explained their relationship with other hunters, saying that they are different but work together.

When asked about disciplinary measures against erring members in the state, the commander said that about 20 members had been sanctioned within the year.

“Some of them were suspended and some dismissed”, he concluded.

This training is especially vital as the army recently lost a high ranking soldier in the person of Lt. Col. Abu Ali and about six other soldiers to the war on the Boko Haram insurgents.

Source: Legit.ng

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