Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Fulani Socio-Cultural Association has inaugurated Nomad Vigilante to complement conventional security agencies.
Speaking at the event on Wednesday in Lafia, Bello Bodejo, National President of the association said that the formation of the group became imperative given the increasing security challenges in the country.
He said that the first batch of the vigilante comprised 1144 Fulani youths from various communities in the 13 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Nasarawa State.
He added that the profiling of other interested persons was ongoing, as they are targeting to recruit up to 4000 youths for proper coverage of all Fulani communities.
He also promised that the group would assist in fishing out all criminal elements among the Fulani people and hand them over to the security agencies for necessary action.
Bodejo explained that the vigilante was to complement the efforts of the conventional security agencies in intelligence gathering and surveillance with a view of tackling kidnapping and banditry among others.
He also promised that they would cooporate with the conventional security agencies and adhere to the provisions of the law in carrying out their duties.
He therefore appealed to Nigerians to desist from ethnic profiling of criminals and treat any criminal caught as a criminal.
“Every ethnic group has criminal elements among them, so if a Fulani man or woman commits a crime, he or she should be treated as a criminal just like others and not a Fulani criminal” he added.
He therefore promised to inaugurate similar groups in other states of the federation.
Addressing the group, Umar Nadada, Commissioner of Police (CP) in the state, lauded them for the initiative and said that the formation was apt given the security challenges in the state and county.
The CP said that the police was ready to work with all groups interested in the security of lives and property in the country.
He however, urged them to always inform the security agencies about anything suspicious in their respective areas for prompt action.
He advised them not to take the law in their hands, but cooperate with the security agencies for proper security in the state.
Nadada also said that the Nomad Vigilante were not allow to use fire arms during their operations.
The inauguration had in attendance representatives of the Nigeria Army and other security agencies.
