The Commandant General of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria, Navy Captain Umar Bakori (Rtd), has said calls for the creation of State Police were unnecessary because the VGN was already providing the service.

Umar said this at a media briefing, in Abuja.

He explained that the recent passage of the bill providing legal backing for the VGN was a right step in the right direction.
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The former naval officer however urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to assent to the bill as part of his unending commitment to securing the country.

He said, “We have come a long way since 2012 in making sure the bill passes all the stages.

“The President went through the bill the first time and identified 50 errors which have been corrected and the fresh bill passed by the National Assembly.

“We thank the President and the National Assembly for a very good job.

“We want to let you know that the VGN is a voluntary organization some people were killed, they don’t know why they were killed.

“Some people know they may be killed but they are ready to face the enemy because of their love for the security of the lives and property of fellow citizens. They are paid salaries, pension and gratuity.

“For us, we are volunteering even though we know we may be killed , no pension, no gratuity, this is the highest act of patriotism. We have spread across Nigeria, we have over 1million members.

“We want the media to educate our politicians, we don’t need State Police our main job is community policing, community services and maintenance of law and order and we all serve in our localities, we don’t transfer people from one state to another and we have our men in every state,Local Government and every ward.

“I expect governors to use our men, we are ready to serve we have the advantage of our knowledge of our communities, we know all nooks and crannies, we know our terrain.

“In any local government you have ten policemen, I can guarantee you we have over 300 men and they are always ready to take you to where the crooks are hiding because we have the intelligence. We train our men to serve.”

The CG recalled the roles played by officers and men of the VGN in identifying the hiding place of the terrorists who attacked and officers and soldiers of the Brigade of Guards in Bwari as well as the ongoing operation to free the remaining hostages the Edo train attack.

He said, “We lost our commander in Bwari who was shot while assisting security agencies to locate the hideout of the criminals who committed the crime.” End