Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, has declared that the state vigilante services will undergo a new training for them to be educated on their limits and boundaries as a support service to the statutory law enforcement agencies and for them to be abreast of their new roles in the face of the emerging security challenges facing the country.
A statement made available to Qed.ng by Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Godwin Adindu, on Thursday disclosed that the Abia State Vigilante Services (AVS) also known as Bakassi Boys, has long been in existence in the state but that the governor is only reengineering the outfit for it to be able to assist in addressing the new forms of security threat.
It added that the unit will play new roles of fencing the communities from both internal and external aggression.
Ikpeazu said the role of the vigilante services has become very crucial at this point in time but noted that they need to be well orientated on how to work and operate in a democracy and how to relate to the law enforcement agencies and the public.
The governor says the clarification has become necessary in view of the insinuations that the AVS is being equipped as a local militia to fight herdsmen.
Ikpeazu pointed out that the security outfit came into existence over 16 years ago as a reaction to the disturbances of hoodlums in Aba and was later elevated to a vigilante service.
Neighbouring states also engaged its services in combating armed robbery when the hoodlums seemed to have overwhelmed the statutory agencies.
Governor Ikpeazu explained further that as an organ of the security protected by the laws of Abia State, the Bakassi Boys have a well articulated chain of command with commanders in various local councils and zones, stressing that what the men of the service need now is training in the language of security and skill for intelligence gathering.
He said he is beefing up the services with over 500 men because they are needed in the communities to fence off security threats and sniff out crimes and criminals in the communities but added that they need to know clearly where their power stops and where that of the police begins.
Although they are sometimes accused of illegal activities and human rights abuses, the Bakassi Boys enjoy popular support in the areas of Igboland where they operate.
