The leadership of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), Zamfara State chapter, and the Community Protection Guard (CPG) have commended youth formations across rural communities in the state’s 14 local government areas for their role in supporting security operations and protecting communities.
They said the contributions of grassroots youth groups have become critical in the ongoing fight against banditry and other violent crimes in the state.
Speaking separately, the NYCN state chairman, Comrade Nurudeen Salisu, said the limited manpower of security agencies in Nigeria made community participation essential in addressing insecurity.
“The workforce of the security agencies we have, not only in Zamfara State, in Nigeria as a whole, is not adequately enough to man all the communities we have in Nigeria. So we need people. Their work is commendable because there is so much courage and commitment to assist the security agencies in exercising their mandate through intelligence sharing and collaboration to counter crime and violence,” he said.
Salisu explained that the NYCN has established a Directorate of Security, Intelligence and Safety Matters to coordinate youth involvement in security matters across all levels of the organisation.
“In terms of youth contribution to security, especially at the rural level, in NYC we have what we call the Directorate of Security, Intelligence and Safety Matters… from the polling unit to ward, local government, state and national levels,” he said.
He added that the Council has been training youths to support security efforts, noting that young people are both victims and, in some cases, perpetrators of violence in society.
He also disclosed ongoing engagement with the police over the newly – established Violent Crime Response Unit introduced by the Inspector General of Police, and efforts to secure youth representation in its civilian oversight structure.
“We sought representation in this civilian oversight board… so we are working towards actualising that. We are also working on building confidence in our youths to trust the police,” he said.
Also speaking, the public relations officer of the Zamfara State Community Protection Guard, Abubakar Gumi, said the group has been instrumental in providing intelligence to security agencies.
He said the CPG’s knowledge of local terrain has helped improve coordination with the police and military in countering banditry.
“The Community Protection Guard understand the State very well, they share information with the police and others in fighting banditry. There is synergy between various security agencies and the CPG in combating deadly attacks,” he said.
Gumi added that despite challenges in terms of equipment, the group continues to work closely with security agencies to bridge operational gaps and sustain gains recorded in ongoing security operations across Zamfara State.
