Curbing Notoriety of Edo Vigilante Service

 Adibe Emenyonu writes on the notoriety of some vigilante groups in Edo State, prompting indigenes to ask if their job is to secure the people or brutalise them

It is an obvious fact that insecurity has been one of the greatest challenges facing Nigeria in the last 10 years. Not only have thousands of lives been wasted, but houses and farmlands have been destroyed.

With the security agencies seriously overwhelmed in their efforts to address the problem, vigilance groups were set up across the country to help bring succour to Nigerians.

To make the locals part of the security architecture alongside the conventional police force, Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and the military, the vigilante groups were mobilised to rise to the occasion.

The groups have, to a large extent, brought about some measures of sanity within the communities because they are familiar with their area of operation, having been drawn from the same area.

It was based on this fact that governors of the 36 states threw their weight behind state policing using the local vigilante group formations in clans, villages, towns and local governments.

In the northern part of the country, the public is awash with news of the Joint Civilian Taskforce that is complementing the efforts of the military to combat terrorism, banditry and other forms of insurgency in those areas.

Due to the ugly incident of kidnapping, farmer-herders’ conflicts, and armed robbery, vigilantes were organised to provide security in many neighbourhoods. A case in point is in the South-west geopolitical zone, where Amotekun is doing a wonderful job in securing the region.

Similarly, and elsewhere in the South-east and South-south regions, state governments have encouraged the setting up of vigilance groups to help the police in combating all forms of criminal tendencies, whose efforts have been commended largely by many.

Due to the public outcry concerning the activities of killer herdsmen and kidnappers, residents of Jagbe community, near Auchi in Edo State, were full of praises for the vigilante group in the area, wh,o through their gallantry, averted the kidnap of a young lady and other incessant activities of criminals and extremists operating in the area.

It was gathered that in the early hours of a particular day, bandits suspected to be members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect, stormed the community in their numbers, wielding guns and machetes, destroying property and eventually abducted one Mr. Isioma Tommy Okoh, a youth leader at the local church, as well as his fiance, one Miss Blessing Okhiloa. 

The victims were whisked away into the forest, along the Auchi-Abuja Highway, but luck, however, ran out on the kidnappers when members of the local vigilante group in the area promptly mobilised and gave them a hot chase. 

They reportedly stormed and combed the bushes until they got close to the kidnappers’ den, and after an intense exchange of gunshots, the kidnappers escaped into the deepest parts of the forests, leaving behind some ammunition and their victims, who at the moment have reunited with their loved ones.

The head of the vigilantes in the community, Iyokota Andrew, confirmed the incident. He said the rescue operation was made easier because his group had been keeping undercover tabs on the sect for a while now.

The local security outfit in Ogbonna, a community in Etsako East Local Government Area of the state, also achieved a similar feat.

That of Igarra, Akoko-Edo Etsako East Local Government Area of the state is also said to be doing well because of the support it gets from well-meaning individuals and constituted authorities.

However, the activities of some of these vigilance groups have evoked fears that if allowed to operate legitimately, they might be used by state governors and politicians against their opponents or used to fan their political aspirations to the detriment of the larger society.

For some time now, the members of the local security outfit called Edo Security Network (ESN) in Auchi, headquarters of Etsako Local Government Area, have been reportedly taking law into their own hands.

When they are not intimidating and collecting tolls from commercial tricycle riders, they are seen brutalising innocent citizens for no just cause, or taking orders from political leaders in the area.

From the stretch of Ekhie-Avielle road and other axes, they have mounted roadblocks where commercial motorcycle and tricycle riders are constantly extorted, and refusal to cooperate would signal danger for victims.

The security outfit, according to a resident of the area, “has zero records of tackling insecurity but is good at intimidating harmless citizens and collecting N200.”

Two weeks ago, the Auchi Vigilante was allegedly responsible for the mayhem in Auchi Polytechnic, where they were accused of aiding electoral crimes in the institution’s Students Union Government (SUG) election that ended in chaos and bloody clash between supporters of an indigenous candidate and non-indigenes.

Not satisfied with the sobriquet “kill and go,” an ugly appellation it earned from the locals, the security outfit, last weekend, allowed itself to be used by politicians to humiliate and brutalise Chief JP Okhai Okhani, President, Edo North Unity Forum Worldwide. 

Okhani’s offence was his temerity to organise a town hall meeting where elected political office holders from the Etsako political bloc were expected to come and give their stewardship before the people of the area.

For this reason, the ESN operatives descended on the venue of the event, shooting sporadically to disperse the crowd. Thereafter subjected Okhani to severe torture. His clothes were torn to shreds, his phones and shoes stolen.

This has been the modus operandi of the service since the new government came to power in the state. Every member of the opposition or voice of decent is constantly harassed.

Just last Monday, youths from Auchi blocked the Jattu junction of the Benin-Auchi-Okenne federal highway because of the rise in cases of kidnappings where persons are now picked up in their homes and ransom is demanded.

There are even insinuations that the frequent abduction of people in the area may not be unconnected with the behaviour of the local security outfit which many believe have lost interest in the security of the area but their personal aggrandisement.

Amid the atrocities levelled against it, the security outfit appears unperturbed as no fewer than 15 persons are said to have been kidnapped with over N70 million ransom paid before their release.

In the words of the Coordinator, Edo Take It Back Movement, Hafiz Lawal, “No fewer than 15 persons in Auchi have been kidnapped with over N70 million paid as ransom.”

Another local security outfit that is becoming worrisome is the Benin City section of ESN. Of particular concern is the unit manning the Country Home Road and Limit Road.

These units have cultivated the habit of mounting roadblocks with disused tires, stopping every approach vehicle and tricycle for search, and in the process, extorting them and causing unnecessary gridlock.

This is why the government should urgently intervene to prevent bad eggs among the local security outfit from spoiling others, and prevent the public from questioning the good intentions behind setting up the outfit.

It is important to realise that the local security outfits were established to give indigenes of the state succour and free them from criminals and not for them and politicians to oppress the others.