The Bauchi State government has planned to recruit 20,000 youths into the state’s Vigilante and Youth Empowerment Agency, established and modelled after Amotekun in the South-West.
This was said by Governor Bala Mohammed on Monday following his inauguration for a second term.
The recruitment, according to the governor, was necessary so that the state government could use the already-established security agency.
He explained that the security agency would stabilize the already-existing, very successful local government security system.
He said: “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 checkmating the activities of those who infiltrate our rural areas with the sole intent of displacing the indigenes,”.
In addition, Mr. Bala gave the traditional, religious, and community leaders of the state the assurance that they would continue to serve as the state’s first line of defense in the fight against raiders and those engaged in illegal logging and charcoal sales in the state.
He stated that the state administration also aimed to support the establishment of a “inter-state” security model that was started when he was the Minister of the Federal capital territory (FCT), taking into account the state’s extensive land borders with seven other states.
The governor outlined how this type of cooperative arrangement included the FCT as well as all of the capital city’s neighboring states, including Nasarawa, Kaduna, Niger, and Kogi.
“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 a partnership with the Chinese government to deploy modern surveillance and tracking technology to boost our security architecture.
“The Chinese Ambassador and his officials have visited Bauchi to express their strong commitment to collaborating with the state to achieve this objective,” Mr Mohammed said.
