THE recruitment of repentant criminals as constabularies by the Kano state government has sparked outrage among Nigerians on social media.
Several Nigerians, particularly on X, expressed dismay over recruiting individuals with a criminal record and or shady pasts to police communities.
On Monday, October 16, The ICIR saw pictures of Nasiru Abdullahi, popularly known as Chile Maidoki, donning a Kano State constabulary uniform alongside the State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Abdullahi Kiyawa.
Sometime this year, Abdullahi and two other notorious criminals were declared wanted by the Kano State Police Command with a bounty of N100,000 each.
A subsequent statement by the command confirmed that he surrendered himself to the command upon hearing the bounty placed on his head.
Also confirming the recruitment, a report shared by the Nigeria Police Force spokesperson Ademuyiwa Adejobi via his X handle revealed that 50 repentant thugs were selected from the 222 thugs that decided to embrace peace offered by the state command’s commissioner of police, Muhammad Usaini Gumel.
According to the report, Gumei, while addressing the selected repentant thugs during the passing out parade on Monday, October 16, said the initiative resulted from the repentant thugs’ commitment to ensuring peace in the state.
However, the Force spokesperson claimed that the constabularies weren’t Police officers but a community-based initiative by the state government.
“They are not policemen. I was told, and it’s been in the news, that they are repentant individuals who have been mobilised into the constabulary scheme of Kano state. The constabulary scheme is not Police but a community-based initiative.”.
Reacting to this development, an X user, Akpan Emmanuel, expressed hope that Kano residents would be safe from the hands of Police brutality and harassment.
“I hope Kano residents will be safe… I hope they won’t increase the quota for Police brutality. I just hope. So help us God,” he wrote.
Another X user, Olorumfemi Taiwo, said: “There are patriotic young, educated and sound citizens, but Nigeria always rewards criminals generously.”
Adekunle expressed his concern over the recruitment of thugs as constabularies, noting that the thugs will use the uniform to terrorise citizens.
He wrote, “Recruiting repentant thugs is a serious security concern to the nation. Most of these boys will use the uniform to settle scores and terrorise the citizens. I hope we can get better.”
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: umustapha@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M