Vigilante Group Applauds The National Assembly For Passing The Legislation

Navy Captain Umar Bakori (Retd), the Commander General of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN), has praised the National Assembly for swiftly passing the Vigilante Group of Nigeria Bill and urged President Muhammadu Buhari to sign it.

The VGN (Establishment) Bill 2022 (HB 437) was reviewed by the Senate’s Committee of the Whole on Tuesday during plenary. The clauses one through thirty were approved as proposed, as was the interpretation, the schedule, the short and long titles, and the explanatory memo.

Ibrahim Gobir, the leader of the Senate, is the bill’s sponsor. It was read a third time and approved. It aims to create the Nigerian Vigilante Group, which would have the authority to assist Nigerians with community policing, the upkeep of law and order, and community service. In November 2021, the House of Representatives first enacted it into law.

29 of the 30 provisions in Kabiru Idris’ report on the bill that was given to the committee of the whole were taken into consideration and approved.

The organization should stand on its own and raise funds from the federal, state, and local governments, the ad hoc committee said after deliberating on the issue. All financial commitments from the federal government should be eliminated.

In order to support efforts for national security at all levels, Bakori assured the Federal Government and the National Assembly that his officers and men, numbering approximately 1 million, 500,000, and embedded in all Nigerian communities, local governments, and states, had received quality training from the Police, DSS, and NSCDC.

The Commander General said that President Buhari’s pledge to Nigerians that he would leave behind a safe and secure nation before he leaves office is now a reality with the adoption of the long-awaited Bill by the NASS.

In order to guarantee that insecurity is a thing of the past, Bakori said, “Once the President who is the Commander-in-Chief assents to the Bill and it becomes law, we are ready to deploy our personnel all throughout the nation in line with our mission.”