The Jalingo Branch of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria, VGN, says it is poised to continue to combat crime in the communities through constant surveillance and monitoring of activities within the Communities in and around Jalingo, the Taraba State capital.
This was the resolve of the members of the VGN at the end of a one-day refresher training organized by the group for units ward and local government commandants Executives in Jalingo on Saturday.
In his opening remark, the Jalingo Local Government Commander, Munir Bello Abubakar revealed that the group has grown from handling only trivial crimes to more serious and dangerous ones in the communities hence the need to constantly train the officers and men of the group in order to ensure they work within the ambits of the law.
“we have grown from a group that use to deal only with pick-pockets and petty thieves such that today, we are actively involved in combating cases as serious as armed robbery, kidnapping, we are now an important and integral part of the security of jalingo and the surrounding communities”
“This training is aimed at helping us keep in pace with the development in the field as well as improve our efficiency” he said
Abubakar who said the VGN is a voluntary Non Governmental Organisation whose members devotedly commits to providing security for members of the community free of charge through its involvement in patrolling streets, neighborhoods to forestall breakdown of order, apprehend and hand over to other security agencies culprits of crimes in the communities and a lot more rely solely on free will donations and contributions from good spirited individuals to facilitate the ease of carry out their duties in the localities.
“if you have been following security reports, you will agree with me that crime has increased in Jalingo, about seven persons have been kidnapped just about two days back, before now, if such incidents occur, while the kidnapers attack an area, and we are informed, we immediately use to respond, and in most cases rescue the victims, our prompt response was because we had a patrol vehicle, although it was given to us by someone who said it was on temporally basis, he has collected it and so if we are called upon now, we can hardly respond rapidly as we use to do when the vehicle was there” he lamented .
He appealed to the Taraba State Governments at all levels as well as other kind hearted individuals and corporate bodies to assist the group to continue to provide security in and around Jalingo.
“We have volunteered to assist our communities secure lives and properties, and so anytime we are called upon in case of any emergences and we cannot quickly respond to save the situation, we usually feel very bad but helpless since we do not have any means of mobility” he emphasized.
“We are appealing to everyone to assist us to get mobility, it could be motor cycles, patrol vehicle, cash, nothing will be too little to support our quest to secure Jalingo and its surrounding communities, our accounts details is:
ACOOUNT NAME: JALINGO LG VIGILANTE GROUP
ACCOUNT NUMBER: 1030098221
BANK: TARABA SAVINGS AND LOANS
Anyone who wishes to donate anything to us in person can visit our office at THU Compound, road block, Jalingo or reach us on the following phone Numbers: 08034633554, 08063404658” Abubakar appealed.
He assured the public that members of the group will not allow themselves to be influenced by politicians in the forth coming elections as it is often the case before now, as training like what they have organized is meant to train its members to know where to draw the lines
The training had other paper presentations on topics such as Fundamental human Rights, Leadership/Discipline, Gender Based Violence/Conflict Resolution, Child Safeguarding, Community Policing/Neighborhood Crime, operations, VGN Code of Conduct, Crowd Control and Physical Fitness.