As Nigeria grapples with rising insecurity across the length and breadth of the country, the Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN) has proffered some solutions to the crisis. According to the organisation, the country can overcome its security challenges, if greater attention is paid to intelligence gathering.

The national ICT officer of the organisation, Yusuf Ibrahim Tanimola, disclosed this in Calabar, the capital of Cross River State, recently. He said VGN, with officers spread across the 774  local government areas of the country, are better placed to checkmate all forms of criminality.

He posited that challenges of effective security in the country arise because officers posted to communities do not know the security dynamics of the places they are sent to.

He said: “Some of the security personnel posted to the states are not indigenous and do not know the black spots of some areas where those crooks are.

“That is why vigilante can do the job because we know the history and houses of every indigene of a community.

“If an officer is posed from one division to the other, he is the new man there but the vigilante who have been in existence in the community for long will tell you if a new man enters the community.

“A newly posted  policeman will need to learn from a vigilante officer before he can get an intelligent information.”

He advocated for the integration of the VGN into the state and national security and governance framework to checkmate the challenge of insecurity that has claimed thousands of lives in the country.

On the data capturing exercise, he disclosed that data generated will form a formidable data base of its officer’s across the country.

Also speaking, the commander for the South South zone of the VGN,  Hayford Edet, said the main focus and objective of the organization was intellectual creativity.

He said since the VGN are the ones really carrying out community policing, especially at the grassroots, they know the terrain, the nooks and crannies as well as the ills of the society better.

“It is very easy to divulge information to an indigene than a stranger and the indigene knows exactly where the criminals are hiding,” he said.

Commandant, VGN, Cross River State Command, Bassey Moses Ogar, said they can end insecurity in the country because they can easily reach out to its men across the country.

The state commandant stated the readiness of VGN to work with government at all levels and other security organisations in the country to protect the citizens from all forms of criminality.

The VGN, established in 1870 was officially registered in 1999 as a non-governmental organization.

It was established to complement the efforts of security agencies and assist protect lives, properties and also prevent crimes.

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