With the recent launch of the Nsu vigilante Security outfit and the need to ensure that Nsu community enjoys the benefit of setting up a security outfit of this nature ,it has become imperative to write today on the importance of Vigilante groups in community crime prevention. In most communities, vigilante groups as security outfits are mostly composed of volunteers, operating under the mandate of communal consensus to fight crime. As the waning capacity of the police could not curtail the rising trend of urban violence and crime, communal policing or vigilante were created to protect the neighbourhoods. According to a report cited by Baker,The helplessness of the Federal government in addressing the rising crime wave across the country brings to the fore the need for restructuring. A centralised police force remote from the communities they police is incapable of providing effective protection to the citizens. Indeed, in many regions in Nigeria, parallel local organisations and vigilante groups have proved far more effective in combating crime.
Whilst we recognise the danger of untrained citizens, without defined structures or commands acting outside the structures of law to enforce law and orders, the police, pending the creation of independent state police commands must recognise the need to show greater understanding and appreciation of the useful and positive role that the vigilante groups could play in the effective maintenance of law and order. In truth, the ‘folk hero’ status of these groups is as a result of the failing of the police. The police would be well advised to see how the efforts of various vigilante groups can be harnessed in combating the intolerably high level of crime in the country
According to Baker (2003), vigilantism is a category of non-state or self-policing. It is characterised by reactive, ad hoc and often violent methods of crime control. A vigilante is a group of committed people at the micro level of the community, set up to collate information on suspected criminals in its area, for use by the police in the detection and prevention of crime. It is often made up landlords, tenants, community associations and leaders of the neighbourhood, who keep watch over their area and report suspicious people to the police . Vigilante groups are largely informal and composed of volunteers and are largely funded through communal contributions. Contributions are insignificant and often irregular compared to the risks vigilante are exposed.
The resurgence of modern vigilante groups in most parts of the country has been closely associated with the disproportionate increase in the rise of urban crimes and conflicts. The inability of the police to tame the rising menace of the urban gangs has led to the proliferation of vigilante groups. In the early 1990s, vigilante groups were formed in almost all the local government within Kano metropolis.
In Kano for example, vigilante groups were offshoot of group of hunters. Vigilante groups are coordinated through the institution of Zauren Sulhu- the Settlement of Disputes Centre . Zauren Sulhu served as a security community and was composed of ward heads, community elders, religious leaders, wealthy individuals and heads of households. The members of Zauren Sulhu set up Kai-da-kai (community self-help). By 1983, Kai-da-kai transformed into vigilante groups to tackle the upsurge of criminal activities by complimenting the efforts of security agencies especially the police to protect lives and properties and prevent crimes. Vigilante groups were practiced in three main forms: Yan’Kato dagora -traditional vigilante groups; Yan’sintiri nafarin kaya -neighbourhood watch; and Yan’kwamitin unguwa- neighbourhood security committee
Since 1985, community vigilante became more involved in confronting youth gangs that use drugs and commit crimes including abduction of young girls . Community vigilante groups assisted the police in suppressing Yandaba criminal activities of kidnapping young girls. Burglaries, duping, raping and kidnapping of children were on the increase and so vigilante groups were formed in all the old Kano city wards through security committees that involved ward heads. The ward heads mobilised volunteers to organise and register vigilante groups in their communities.
In order to legalise and provide official recognition to their activities, vigilante groups were registered with the Kano State Ministry of Rural and Community Development, under the Self-Help Edit of 1987. Annually, vigilante groups renew their registrations under the Local Government Community Development Departments. The aims and objectives of the vigilante groups as defined in Article (4) of the Constitution include:
- To assist the Police and law enforcement agencies to curb crime
- To protect and preserve public property
- Assist the Police in crowd control and maintenance of peace at public functions where the need arises
- With the clearance of the police, assist public agencies in the protection of their establishment plants and equipment
- To give information to the police and other security agencies of criminals or wanted persons residing in the ward or Local Government
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To locate the permanent or temporary residencies of receivers of stolen properties and 419 practitioners for the purposes of enabling the police to arrest or monitor their activities
- To make positive and useful contributions to the advancement, progress and well-being of the community by mobilising and assisting in communal development efforts
To abide by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and all relevant laws and byelaws. According to Article (5) of the Constitution, membership of the vigilante shall be open to all Nigerians who:
- Are not less than 18 years of age
- Are of unquestionable character
- Are physically and mentally fit
- Reside in the community where they work
- Have not been convicted of any criminal offence
- Have pledged to abide by the rules and regulations of the organisation and the laws of Nigeria.
Vigilante groups emphasised that prospective members should be duly employed and certified/identified by the ward heads before they could be registered as vigilante members. This was to avoid recruiting criminals into their fold and to prevent corrupt practices such as extortion since vigilante groups are largely voluntary without payment of salary by the government.
In Kano metropolis, security committees were organised in each local government as security outfits to defend lives and properties. Each vigilante group has an average of ten to fifteen persons who operate on rotational basis. The vigilante groups have agreements with the residents of the areas in which they guide. The State government supported vigilante by supplying them with uniforms, which they use in patrols along with police .
1Uniform vigilante groups guide markets, control traffic and network with one another to control crime. Their patrols are jointly carried out with police against criminals. This strategy is to make arrest of criminals easier without necessarily engaged in combat or killing of suspects before they are being prosecuted.
Vigilante groups consider drug addiction and theft as a threat to public safety. They arrest criminals and assist in their rehabilitation. Vigilante groups work twenty-four hours a day but they perform most of their activities at night. Arrested suspects are handed over to the police for further interrogation and prosecution. In several cases, communities trust vigilante more than police because of the effective, reliable and prompt ways they tackle criminal issues . In Kano ,Some parents enlist vigilante groups to monitor the activities of their children whether they were attending Quranic Schools or not.
Vigilante groups in various parts of the North provide security for graveyards against the incursion of hoodlums. In Bachirawa area of Kano , vigilante groups arrested 25 persons for digging up graves and removing human parts for alleged ritual purposes. The suspects were arraigned before the Gidan Murtala Magistrate Court.The criminals were often more afraid of the vigilante groups than the police because of their ability to arrest criminals in their hideouts. Vigilante groups use light weapons like stick cutlasses, den guns but often encounter threats from hoodlums who use sophisticated weapons such as AK47. Therefore, vigilante groups obtained permission from the Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) through Ward Heads and District Heads to use the weapons such as cutlasses, swords, machetes, bows and arrows and den guns.
Vigilante groups aided the arrest of criminals who perpetrated crime, rape and assaults on young women.In the past, Community vigilante groups were formed in the areas where criminals were most notorious including other forms of violence.