Police begin training of Vigilante Group members on intelligence gathering

The Nigerian Police are to train members of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN) to enhance their capacity in intelligence gathering for better security services.

The Lagos State Deputy Commandant of the group, Mr Emanuel Ayirise, who made the disclosure to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos, said the training would begin on Monday.

Ayirise said the training, being carried out in collaboration with the office of the Inspector General of Police (I-G) will hold from Feb. 15 to Feb. 20, at the Nigerian Police College, Ikeja.

“It is a five day basic intelligence gathering training and each of the states are having it in the various Police Colleges or Training Schools,’’ he said.

According to him, some states have started the training but the members in Lagos State are beginning theirs on Monday.

Ayirise also said that only registered members of the group would participate.

“It is important that our personnel are trained so that they can deliver better service in terms of intelligence gathering and contribute to securing the state.

“I think the Federal Government is beginning to appreciate the need for an organisation like VGN in the internal security framework.

“The VGN is a very salient factor in the tools for keeping internal security,’’ he told NAN while acknowledging that the organisation’s operations were at the grassroots in majority.

“For you to be a security officer anywhere, you should understand the topography and demography of the place and VGN is the only the group that has these advantages.

“Our men are domiciled where they are operating, they live and work in these places and they know the areas that are criminal hotspots.

“We know that quite a number of our men are civilians and it is important that they should be given training to be able to deliver.’’