Following the emergency security meeting convened by Governor Abdullahi Sule on Monday, the Nasarawa State Government has proscribed all ethnic vigilante groups operating in the state.
The state government equally directed ethnic vigilante groups affected by the order to hand over their uniforms and weapons to the state Commissioner of Police within two weeks.
Citing the powers vested in him via Section 97A of the Penal Code, as well as other relevant laws vested in him, Governor Sule, acting on the advice of the state security council, specially banned the Fulani ethnic vigilante group, known as the Kungiyar Zaman Lafiya, Bassa Vigilante group, as well as the Eggon Vigilante Group.
It would be recalled that the National President of the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Abdullahi Bello Bodejo, had inaugurated a 1,144-man Fulani vigilante group in the state which allegedly led to his arrest in January 2024, by the military.
Bodejo was arrested at the Miyetti Allah’s Head Office, Tundun Maliya Cattle Market, Kilometre 22, Abuja-Keffi Expressway, Tundun-Wada, Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.
The DSS operatives alongside some soldiers of the Nigerian Army, were said to have stormed the Miyetti Allah’s Head Office close to Goshen Church, at about 3:40 pm, as they drove off after arresting Bodejo at the gate.
Through Executive Order No. 1 of 2024, signed by the Governor and issued on Tuesday, the Nasarawa State Government also banned any other association, movement, organisation or society affiliated with the group operating under the guise of ethnic vigilante.
“Similar Organisations includes any association, movement or group of persons or society in whatever name called or form, with the aim and objectives of providing security amongst particular ethnic groups within Nasarawa State through the use of force or arms etc.
“Accordingly, the Kungiyar Zaman Lafiya nomad Vigilante, Bassa Vigilante, Eggon Vigilante and other similar organizations are henceforth proscribed and declared unlawful societies that are inimical to good governance in the state.
“The State Government, therefore, directed that members of the Kungiwar Zaman Lafiya nomad Vigilante, Bassa Vigilante, Eggon Vigilante and other similar organizations, to hand all weapons or arms in their possession along with uniforms to the Commissioner of Police Nasarawa State within two weeks from the date of issuance of the order,” the Executive Order No. 1 of 2024 read in part.