Vigilante groups have been very helpful in ensuring safety of life and property, especially in the aspect of crime reduction in many societies around the world, including Nigeria. But the recent lynching of 16 Kano-bound hunters in Uromi, Esan North-East Local Government of Edo State, exposed one of their excesses in the forms of extra-judicial killings, raising questions on why these vigilantes should be allowed to carry arms. From the North to the South, GBENGA AKINFENWA and MICHAEL EGBEJULE profile instances of vigilante groups taking the laws into their own hands and dispensing justice as they deemed fit. They suggest how best to ensure safety of life of people in the domains of operation by the vigilantes and how the groups can avert a path of self-destruct.
On March 28, Nigerians woke up to the news of violent killing of 16 hunters traveling to Kano State by vigilantes in Uromi, Esan North-East Local Government of Edo State. Based on reports, the casualties, mistaken for kidnappers owing to the prevalence of kidnappings in various parts of Edo State for several years now, were on their way to Kano State when they were lynched by the security group.
To say the killing sparked nationwide outrage, which is yet to abate, is to say the least. The carnage elicited reactions from security agencies and top government officials. Even the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) expressed deep regret over the gruesome murder, lamenting the alarming rise in mob action and acts of injustice by vigilantes in various parts of the country.
The NBA President, Afam Osigwe, decried the brutality meted out to the hunters, stating that no individual, regardless of the nature of the alleged crime, should be subjected to such brutality. “Allowing mob actions to persist undermines the very foundation of our criminal justice system and portrays Nigeria as a society where lawlessness prevails. Justice must be served, and perpetrators of mob violence must be held accountable to deter future occurrences,” he said.
Investigations by The Guardian showed that residents of the area where the incident happened are still living in fear of a possible reprisal as tension continues to mount, despite assurances by the state government of their safety.
IN Nigeria, vigilantism is not a new development as it has been part of the country’s policing system over the years. Traditional hunter guards have pre-colonial origins, and were authorised by the British government during World War II, but their politicisation after the independence led to prohibition. However, owing to the rising level of criminal activities and alleged inefficiency of the government security agencies, especially their structure of law enforcement which is not so effective in taming the crime rate, vigilantism continued, with groups proliferating in the 1990s.
One of the most popular vigilante groups that evolved during the period was the Bakassi Boys. Initially, they were a group of shoe producers patrolling the Ariaria Market in 1998, but later spread across the city as they became successful in preventing crime.
In 2000, the group was renamed Abia State Vigilante Service, and was provided funds and equipment. The same year, the Anambra State governor invited them to deal with heightened crime at the Ontisha Market. Subsequently, the House of Assembly passed a law to legitimise their existence as the Anambra Vigilante Services. Imo State later followed suit.
Though the activities of the vigilantes in the three states were controlled by an official committee, it did not prevent extra-judicial killings and other abuses, a development that forced the Federal Government to wield its sledge hammer on their existence but failed.
In the Southwest, the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) was founded by Yoruba intellectuals, including the late Frederick Fasehun, to promote Yoruba historical and cultural research. The group came into existence after the annulment of the 1993 presidential election and the subsequent imprisonment and death of the winner of the poll, Chief Moshood Kasimawo Abiola. In 1996 the group’s mandate was expanded to include vigilante activities, as the members opposed military rule and became strong in political vigilantism. The OPC was banned in 1999 when Olusegun Obasanjo assumed office as president of Nigeria.
Despite the ban, OPC continued its activities. The group became politicised and often times accused of committing violent acts. By supporting President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 elections, OPC was awarded a contract to guard the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipelines. This contract was withdrawn after Muhammadu Buhari was elected president.
There was also the Hisbah vigilante group set up in Zamfara and Kano states in 2000. This came at a period when many states in northern Nigeria claimed to be implementing Sharia law. The creation was borne out of claims that the federal police failed to effect Sharia. When complaints of extrajudicial killings escalated, the state governments set up monitoring committees. By 2003, laws to regulate them were passed and they became a highly structured organisation, operating in uniforms and marked vehicles. They were even broadcasting a weekly radio programme. Again, official regulation did not prevent abuses. While the groups enjoyed state support, they clashed with the federal police. This peaked with a federal ban in 2006, but the groups continued their operations and spread to other northern states.
In the oil-rich Niger Delta, several ethnic vigilante groups evolved due to agitations by local communities to benefit from their resources. The Egbese Boys formed in the early 1990 came up as a response to oil exploitation in Ijaw land. This was followed by the Okrika Bush Boys, produced by a clash between the Okrika and Eleme communities over ownership of the land where the Port Harcourt Refinery is situated. In Port Harcourt also, two Ijaw groups - Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force and Niger Delta Vigilante – also emerged. The claimed state support for the Niger Delta Vigilante was fingered as one of the causes of the 2004 Nigerian oil crisis.
Currently, the Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN) is holding sway across the country. The VGN, which originated in Benue State as a non-governmental organisation in 1999, is highly structured and collaborates with the police and military. With an understanding of the local communities in which they work, the VGN has been very successful. Recently, the House of Representatives passed a bill authorising the group, despite allegations of abuses and excesses.
There are reports of hundreds of unregistered vigilantes across the country established by local communities to combat crimes. In some areas, local hunters are operating to reduce crime to the barest minimum.
The Guardian checks revealed that in the last few years, the conventional security system in Nigeria, that is the military, Department of State Services, police and all other organised structures of the security architecture have failed to deliver. As a result of that, states and communities are coming up with new strategies to protect themselves against attacks.
Since the end of March, there have been devastating spates of attacks in at least eight communities in the Bokkos and Bassa local government areas. And in less than two weeks, an estimated 113 people have been killed with thousands of others displaced. Ending violence such as this has been a challenge for Nigerian security officers who sometimes have to depend on vigilante groups who are more familiar with the terrain in most communities and neighbourhoods.
The rise of vigilante forces in Nigeria illustrates the failure of both the Nigeria Police and the government in protecting citizens’ rights and their property.
The Guardian gathered that there have been growing concerns that some of the vigilante groups have been perpetrating violence in their communities of operation.
Some people have condemned the way some of these vigilante groups operate. Though they appreciate the fact that the vigilante groups were introduced to complement the efforts of conventional security agencies to fight criminals who raid and loot villages, kill residents and burn houses, but they condemned their extra-judicial killings which they argued run counter to both the proclamation of the Nigerian constitution and the international law that suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
A research finding in Brookings Education, titled, Vigilante Groups and Militias in Southern Nigeria, written by Vada Felbab-Brown on September 3, 2021 states that “the initial ability of vigilante groups and anti-crime militias to effectively suppress violent crime tends to involve intense brutality, including extrajudicial killings, torture, illegal detention, and sometimes public executions that probably create temporary deterrent effects.
“Local communities often initially embrace such groups and police units, with the vigilantes often developing considerable political capital with local communities.
“State-level authorities seek to appropriate the militias and vigilantes for their purposes, even as the Federal Government opposes the formation of such groups, sometimes violently.
“Neither the Federal Government, nor state authorities, nor local communities exercise effective control over the militias and vigilante groups. What characterises the vigilantes is their profound lack of accountability, like much of the formal security apparatus in the country.
“Putting the militias on the state payroll alone does not moderate their behaviour, especially if state authorities do not demand accountability from them for illegal acts.”
The research also noted: “Indeed, vigilante groups tend to get away with egregious crimes, including public executions, murders, illegal detention, torture, and pervasive extortion of communities. If any prosecution against such behaviour takes place, it tends to be sporadic and inadequate to deter their abusive and predatory behaviour.
Though Nigerian state politicians and local communities keep embracing anti-crime vigilante groups, the groups’ effect on crime suppression is far less than meets the eye.
“Despite under-delivering public safety, engaging in increased abuse, and being subject to political manipulation over time, the vigilante and anti-crime militia groups tend not to go away. Their names may mutate and they may exist in different types of official or unofficial arrangements over time, but they, or their descendants, are still around 20 years later. This can be as much of a security challenge as a solution to intense insecurity.”
According to some residents in the states where the groups operate, the vigilantes are getting out of hand. While a few of these troubling incidences have been reported, many were swept under the carpet, as several victims have been sent to their graves unjustly, while others struggle with permanent stigmas that’ll follow them to their graves.
To many, despite the various allegations and the dangers the activities of the vigilantes portend to the society, they do not see the hand writing on the wall until the recent Uromi killings. That was when it dawned on many that the country is sitting on a keg of gun powder waiting to explode.
Security experts and legal luminaries who stated that extra-judicial killings run counter to both the proclamation of the Nigerian Constitution and the international law said the flourishing of vigilante forces in Nigeria illustrates the failure of both the police and the government in protecting the rights of Nigerians.
They noted that in many states in the country, though there are many institutions in place to handle conflict resolutions, but the vigilante groups, with different code-names, have been allowed to rise and persist, operating independently of the government institutions.
To them, extrajudicial killing is an infringement of the citizen’s right to life and violation of various laws, both local and international.
A human rights lawyer, Ademola Owolabi, had once stated that the killing of the hunters by vigilantes and militia groups was a violation of their rights to life and human dignity as contained in the country’s constitution.
“Life is sacrosanct and must not be taken in any way outside the provision of the law. The challenge is that all manner of crimes are given tribal colouration and as such anybody can just label any group, which is wrong.
“I would have thought the Nigerian government would handle this better in its early stage before getting to a stage of uncontrollable killings. It is unfortunate that even the victims of bandit attacks are now being victimised. Crime has no tribe and the government must ensure that crimes do not go unpunished. No lesson will be learnt without deterrence.”
Another lawyer and human rights activist, Adesina Ogunlana, observed that those involved in extrajudicial killings undermine state authorities. “What is the purpose of governance if we allow that?” he asked. “Mob rule is not governance. It would only lead to retaliation and increase lawlessness.”
A retired officer in the U.S Army, Major Yinka Ogunsanya, said a way to curb the incessant killings by the vigilantes is by having a framework on their mode of operations – what they entails, what part of the country’s constitution or law that empowers them. Ogunsanya noted that most of the vigilante groups are borne out of a fire brigade truck approach, while trying to control crime and other forms of insecurity in the country. He stresseds the need to ensure that at the federal level, there’s a legal framework for vigilante groups.
“At the state levels, which has to be the controlling tier of government, there is need to spell out the do’s and don’ts of vigilantes in Nigeria. How can it be formed? Who can form it? What they can do and what kind of operations they might need to be involved in?
“And how are they interfacing with the police. What are the policies of the police when it comes to community policing. Those are some of the interesting things we need to examine on this particular issue,” he said.
While he was of the opinion that there’s nothing wrong in bearing arms, he faulted the process in which things are done in the country, regretting that due process is not followed.
“Who has the legal authority to bear arms, because if you look at the vigilantes, they’re not military? They’re not paramilitary. They’re not police. They’re just groups of regular citizens coming together to form a subgroup that will do some kind of crime prevention in their areas. So the ability to bear arms has to stem down from the state’s charter. Is there a state’s charter that empowers these guys to bear arm?
“Who’s responsible for the arm? Who’s accountable for the arms? Where are these arms being stored? How are these arms being tracked? Are these guys trained in proper handling of weapons? I don’t think so.
“Right now, I can confidently tell you that the police are not well trained in handling of weapons. I come to Nigeria very frequently, and I’ve seen them at checkpoints, met them at different occasions and I see that the way they handle their weapons is very poor, very poor techniques, always pointing a weapon at people. We call it flashing, which is totally illegal. That is the first step to know that somebody is not disciplined when handling arms. So, who’s controlling all these elements? There’s a lot of missing pieces, a lot of pieces that needs to be done – trainings, until it’s engraved in their muscle memory.”
While noting that the vigilantes shouldn’t be bearing arms yet, he said that there were some other non- little weapon systems that can be used.
“They can disable whoever they are up against, that’s with stun guns. They are high powered projectile rubber bullets that would disable somebody for about 30 seconds to one minute.
“There’s just a lot they can use right now without using weapons. Even in the Western world, they’re trying to move the police away from shoot and kill to a point where they can use non-lethal weapons that can disable temporarily so that the assailant can be captured.”
Ogunsanya noted that in a world where everybody is suspicious of everyone now, the most important thing for Nigeria is to move to where the rest of the world is.
“We need to create a database of hunters. Hunters need to file licenses in the areas they want to hunt so that we can know who is hunting, who is allowed, and this badge has to be carried on them. I understand traditional hunters just go everywhere, but this is like one of the learning losses. What do we learn from this incident?
“What can we do to prevent it? What are the tactics and KPIs that we extract from what actually happened. For example, the hunters were hunting straight into a new state, do they have the permission to hunt in that territory?
“Those are the things we need to examine. I’m coming from a point where I have a hunting license in Texas, but I cannot just walk into Louisiana or New Mexico and start hunting. A code enforcement is going to ask me questions, and I have to present it, and I’ll get fined. So those are the things. There’s a possibility of being mistaken as terrorist because we’ve already labeled, or from the experience in the past with the Fulani herders carrying weapons. “So, are these hunters even licensed as well? Who is licensing them? What are they hunting in those states? So there should be some kind of specialised system to let people know that there’s going to be people from other state hunting here.
“And on whose land are they hunting? Do they have permission of the owners of those lands to hunt? Because such movement can trigger people to think they’re terrorists, they’re armed men that are coming to kill because everybody’s just not in the best frame of mind to trust each other right now. So we need to start putting things in place to ensure that everybody is fully aware of what’s going on around them,’’ Ogunsanya said.
On his part, a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police, who is the Special Adviser to Ogun State Governor on Security, Olusola Subair, supported the bearing of arm by vigilante officials, noting that if hunters can carry arms, nothing stops the vigilante officials, who, to a large extent, are assisting the security agencies to ensure security of life and properties.
“The only thing is that they have the caliber of firearms that they can carry. Not just any firearm. Speaking about the excesses of these vigilante officials, I can speak for Ogun State that we do not have cases of any excesses from these people, meaning none of them is taking laws into their hands. They have been an integral part of the security architecture of the state, and they have been assisting.
“They have been collaborating very well, and working hand in hand with other conventional security agencies. For now, there are no excesses, in fact, we meet with them regularly, and we interface with their leaders. They are part of our security architecture. We engage them whenever we have any joint operation, and they are carried along also when we are sharing, disseminating information amongst ourselves.”
Subair stressed that the vigilante groups cannot be wished away, as they have been very useful. “They have been very handy for us here in Ogun State and, we don’t have any problem with them at all. They have been very helpful in the security architecture of the country, and they should be carried along and encouraged by all states.”
The special adviser on security added that vigilante groups have been bridging the shortfall in the number of personnel in other security outfits, hence their importance and shouldn’t be scrapped. “So that means they are still very useful, no matter how very good the country’s security architecture is.”
A lawyer and human rights activist, Fatimah Jibo, said that disbanding the watch corps was not the answer. Instead they required retraining. “With training, they will understand that they have a limit to what they can do.” “So for them to really know what they are supposed to do, the first thing is to train them, let them understand what they are there to do, let them know the extent of their powers and the limitations they have.”
BEFORE now, there had been recorded cases of extra-judicial killings linked to members of vigilante groups across the country. In November 2000, the Bakassi Boys abducted and killed one Eddie Okeke, also known as Prophet Eddie Nawgu, at his home in Nawgu, in Anambra State. Before this time, he was detained and tortured at their headquarters at the White House in Onitsha. He was 43 years at the time of his death and left behind a wife and eight children, the youngest born eight months after his death.
Another extra-judicial killing of the Bakassi Boys was recorded in February 2001, when Chief Ezeodumegwu G. Okonkwo, a politician, musician, and chairman of the All People’s Party (APP) for the Nnewi South Local Council, Anambra State, was abducted and killed. He was a well-known political figure in his local area and was unafraid of denouncing abuses, including those committed by powerful figures in the community.
His case illustrates the political dimension of the Bakassi Boys’ activities, as well as the escalation of a local dispute into one which ended up involving the state authorities.
In March 2020, a man was tortured to death by members of the vigilante group in Kogi State. It was learnt that an Igbo man reported to the head of the Kogi State vigilance services in the community, Simon Onoja, that the victim stole his N200, 000. The head of the vigilante was said to have ordered the suspect to be tortured under his supervision, a development that led to the victim giving up the ghost.
On Friday, August 31, 2020, a 26-year-old man was allegedly tortured to death by members of the Irri Community Vigilante Group in the Isoko South Local Council of Delta State. The deceased was allegedly tortured to death over the disappearance of N70, 000 belonging to his uncle, who is a member of the vigilante outfit. The victim, who hailed from the Emede community, visited his uncle in Irri. It was in the course of his stay he was accused of stealing N70, 000 kept in the custody of his uncle, which he later confessed to after severe torture. It was reported that the vigilantes came and brutally tortured the victim. Before the intervention of neighbours, he was already unconscious and finally died before they could rushed him to hospital.
In January 2021 in Oyo State, one Rasaq Odugbemi, who sat in front of his family house in Ibarapa was allegedly shot dead by members of Amotekun corps attempting to disperse Tapa youths during a carnival.
It was learnt that no fewer than 20 persons were hit by bullets that night. Some were reportedly taken to different hospitals; and traditional healers where the bullets were removed.
On June 17, 2021, a vigilante in the company of policemen from the Burutu Area Command in Udu Local Council of Delta State shot dead a commercial motorcycle operator in Orhuwhorhun community.
Though the reason for the vigilante’s action was very sketchy, the incident caused serious tension in the area as an angry mob in a protest burnt down a police patrol van and also blocked major roads leading to Warri and its environs.
In September 2021, three vigilante members beat a 25-year old man, Adamu Salisu, to death at Madachi village in Kirikasamma Local Council area of Jigawa State. Residents revealed that the three vigilante members used sticks to beat Adamu while fetching water from a borehole.
An officer of the Nigerian Air Force was allegedly shot dead by a member of the OSPAC vigilante group during an argument in the Omuanwa community, Ikwerre Local Council, Rivers State on January 4, 2022. The police said the vigilante member, Progress Emecheta, suspected to have killed the Air Force man identified as Eugene Ikasike, was arrested. A source in the community said trouble started on Monday when members of the vigilante group were harassing some youths suspected to be cultists and forcing them to renounce cultism by taking a traditional oath.
It was gathered that the situation escalated on Tuesday as the NAF officer’s brother was apprehended, beaten and kept in OSPAC cell. Ikasike, accompanied by his colleagues, went to the vigilantes’ office to find out what offence his brother committed. But he was allegedly rebuffed and pushed back by the vigilantes, who said they did not recognise any Federal Government operative.
An argument later ensued at a different location and the NAF man allegedly mobilised his friend and went to the residence of the OSPAC member, who pushed him, and Amecheta reached for his gun and was said to have shot the NAF man dead.
On January 12, 2022, the Anambra State Police Command arrested the commander of the State Vigilante Group for allegedly torturing a female police officer. According to the police spokesman, DSP Ikenga Tochukwu, the arrest was carried out following a report of harassment and torturing of a female police officer at the AVG’s AwudaNnobi security office.
He described the act as cowardly and assured members of the public that the command was always ready to protect the women against violence even when the person is not from the security community.
On January 22, 2022, a 17-year-old Ahmed Musa was allegedly killed by members of a vigilante group at Sabon Titi, Panshekara, Kumbotso Local Council of Kano State.
It was reported that five vigilante members attacked the deceased while he was crossing Sabon Titi, Panshekara road. They disembarked from a tricycle and started brutalising the deceased with a long and hard wooden club, which he attempted to evade. In the process, one of them used a sharp knife in his possession to stab the deceased on his neck, dragged him on the floor and bundled him into their waiting tricycle and whisked him away. In the process, the deceased suffered grievous injuries and swollen face, and was subsequently conveyed to Kuntau Police Division Kano from where he was rushed to the Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital Kano, but was confirmed dead on arrival by a doctor on duty.
The vigilantes were subsequently convicted and sentenced to death by hanging by a Kano State High Court presided over by the Chief Judge, Justice Dije Aboki, in January 2024.
In January 2022, at Sakajiki village in the Kaura Namoda area of Zamfara State, one Muhammed Sanni was killed by vigilantes who claimed to have suspected him of being a bandit. Without a fair hearing, they shot him dead.
The killing of Sanni was considered as one of the many cases of extrajudicial killings of ordinary citizens by vigilantes fighting terrorism in the Northwest area of the country. His father, Ja’e Sanni, said that before his death, the deceased, his 25-year-old second son, always worked on his farm. He had gone to the market to sell some of the farm produce when members of the vigilante group, known locally as Yan Sakai, killed him.
Ja’e recalled that his son was never a troublemaker and had on several occasions condemned the activities of terrorists in the region. “They first shot him with their gun. Even when dying on the floor, he pleaded softly, denying being a bandit. But they did not listen. They grabbed his throat and slaughtered him with a knife.”
Due to Muhammed’s death, his mother developed a stroke and his other six siblings feared that their safety cannot be guaranteed in their hometown.
Scores, perhaps hundreds, of people have been killed without justice till date.
