The Bauchi State Government may soon add no fewer than 20,000 youths into the state’s Vigilante and Youth Empowerment Agency established and modeled after Amotekun in the South West.
Gov. Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State after he was sworn in for the second term on Monday said that the recruitment was because the state government had to put into action the already-established security agency in the state.
Mohammed explained that the security agency would stabilise the substantially-effective security infrastructure already existing at the local government levels.
The Governor said that it is expected that about 20,000 youths will be recruited under the first phase of the programme.
“It is important to state that the vigilante group has been very effective in check-mating the activities of those who infiltrate our rural areas with the sole intent of displacing the indigenes.
“To such people, let the word go forth from here that while we will always welcome visitors on genuine legitimate missions. We will never allow our land to be taken over by bandits coming from some other states.
“To put it starkly, what we have achieved we will maintain at all cost ”, he said.
Mohammed also assured all the traditional, religious and community leaders in the state that they would continue to play their God-given roles as the first line of defence as the government strived to checkmate raiders and those involved in illegal logging and selling of charcoal in the state.
He said that in recognition of the state’s vast land boundaries with seven states, the state government also intended to promote the establishment of an ‘inter-state’ security model initiated when he was the Minister of the Federal capital territor, FTC.
The governor explained that such a collaborative arrangement involved the FCT and all the states bordering the capital city namely; Nasarawa, Kaduna, Niger and Kogi States.
“In the context of Bauchi, such an arrangement will include Kano and Jigawa to the North; Taraba and Plateau to the South; Gombe and Yobe to the East; and Kaduna to the West.
“That is why the state is pursuing partnership with the Chinese Government in deploying modern technology for surveillance and tracking to boost our security architecture.
“The Chinese Ambassador and his officials have visited Bauchi to express their strong commitment in collaborating with the state to achieve this oobjective”, the governor disclosed.
