BENUE State Governor Hyacinth Alia is to launch another local security outfit to complement the efforts of other security agencies in tackling insecurity in the state.

This is coming despite the launch of Benue Volunteer Guards (BVGs) in 2022 by the state’s former governor, Samuel Ortom.

The ICIR reports that Ortom had boasted that the outfit would save the state residents from frequent attacks by gunmen.

Sources said since Alia assumed office as the governor, nothing much had been heard about the Community Volunteer Guards.

Alia disclosed the launch of his new outfit during the All Progressives Congress (APC) expanded stakeholders meeting, held at Government House, Makurdi, on Wednesday, May 1.

The governor said the outfit would assist in securing Benue communities and enable rural farmers to access their farmlands without fear.

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He stated that his administration was already working towards procuring Hilux vans and motorcycles for the outfit’s personnel to use for patrols across the state.

Meanwhile, a group under the aegis of Defenders of Democracy (DoD) has condemned the governor’s planned launch of the outfit, describing the move as a duplication of the existing guard and a waste of taxpayers’ money.

In a statement signed by its president, Amos Uchiv, in Makurdi on Wednesday, May 1, the group alleged that the government might use the security outfit to attack its political opponents.

Uchiv described the decision as ill-conceived.

He noted that the move was a waste of resources, which would have been channelled to other security agencies, even as he alleged that the governor might be planning to recruit the youths to harass his political opponents.

Uchiv urged Alia to reconsider the decision and work towards strengthening existing security structures, including the state Community Volunteer Guards and other conventional security agencies, for the greater good of the state.

Bankole ABE

Reporter at ICIR | abankole@icirnigeria.org | Author Page

A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance