The Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, has constituted a special security unit to support the Police Force in the state.
Obaseki who was elected on the platform of the People Democratic Party, disclosed this on their official X, formerly Twitter account on Monday, saying this is part of Governor’s efforts to foster security in Edo State.
“As part of efforts to enhance security in Edo State, the @Governor Obaseki led administration has inaugurated a vigilante group as a special unit to support the @PoliceNG and other security forces in the state,” the PDP said.
“The vigilante group will provide the needed intelligence that will assist the police and other security agencies.”
Obaseki expressed optimism that the newly-inaugurated special security unit will, to a large extent, help the Police maintain law and order in Edo State.
“As regards the issue of security, what is novel about what we have done is that we have tried to pair the traditional security system with our national security system,” he said in a video.
“We want them to work in collaboration with each other, this level of collaboration is beyond just having them.
“Right now, as I speak, we have started the process of getting the Department of State Services (DSS), the Army and Police to train the leaders of all these vigilante networks.
“Don’t forget that these vigilante networks and security groups are actually created by the communities for their own protection.
“You go to some places and you see that the landlords come together and they form a security unit,” the Edo state governor said.
The Governor further said that it is for the Edo state government to recognise that such security units exist and then train their officials by making sure of the arms they keep and helping them connect to the communication network if there is a problem.
Obaseki said that his administration will give such security units back-up because he believes that those operatives know their communities much better than even the Policemen and women from other parts of Nigeria.
“In terms of sustaining what we have done, we believe that as long as we get our people more involved by having that openess and talking to each other, the special security unit will be there for a long time to come,” Obaseki said.
