Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue has proscribed illegal vigilance groups in the state and directed that anyone in their uniforms should be arrested and prosecuted.
The governor said the Benue State Volunteer Guards which law was enacted in 2000 and was recently adopted for full enforcement by the state security council should be constituted in their stead.
Ortom briefed journalists at the Benue Peoples House, Makurdi shortly after a meeting with the state commissioner of police, state director of the Department of State Services, the attorney general and commissioner for justice, special adviser on security matters as well as the permanent secretary of the Bureau of Internal Affairs.
The personnel of the Benue State Volunteer Guards who are to be recruited from kindred levels according to the governor, are mandated by law to complement conventional security agencies in securing the state.
Ortom called on members of the disbanded vigilance groups interested in joining the community volunteer guards to go to their kindreds to be properly enrolled.
He directed his Senior Special Assistant on Security, Simon Iwar, to oversee the new formation with the active supervision of the security adviser.
The volunteer guards is an offshoot of the law to provide for the establishment of community volunteer guards and other purposes connected. ##
