Some residents of the FCT satellite towns said that they have joined Nigerians who pay monthly for security. Paying for private neighbourhood security is a growing trend among Nigerians in the cities and it is an indication of failure of the Nigeria Police to guarantee security of citizens.
The residents, who spoke in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja, appealed to the FCT Administration to create more police post within their areas.
Mrs Caroline Malo, a resident of Karmo Sabo village and a civil servant, told NAN that due to insecurity of the area, they have been forced to contribute monthly to pay the vigilante groups.
“In terms of the security, we pay money individually; we pay N300/N400 every month each room to secure our environment on our own.
“Every tenant contributes money individually; we employ security so that we will be able to sleep.
“Apart from that if there is any problem, it should be from outside not the environment where we are staying. People can come from outside and do rubbish, but within here we don’t have any challenge of security.
Also, Mr Okechukwu Onoche, a business man and a resident of Gwagwa, told NAN that his goods were carted away from there shop despite the presence of the vigilantes.
He said that the vigilantes only serve as complement to the regular security agencies and not as complete replacement.
“There are vigilantes around. By the experience I had, a time came that some guys came in the night and broke my shop and they took some items.
“To be sincere with you even the vigilantes could not do anything about it and at the end of the day when I approached them nothing was done. Personally I was discouraged.
“When I wanted to take the matter up, as in go to police station and report the rest of them, people were like you cannot fight this people, they are the guards, if you fight them, the worst might happen.
“So you see, there is no trust, we don’t depend on them.
“We are only managing them because they have answered that name. We are not the one that gave them that job, we are only seeing them coming from month to month to collect their charges, N500, N700.
“But we don’t depend on them as in we know that with them our lives and our security is guaranteed.
In her contribution, Miss Patience Paul, appealed for more security post and the fortification of the vigilante group to enhance their efforts.
“I want government to provide more police post in our community to secure our goods and property because we are not save most times because of the way things are being done in our areas.
“So, I want government to secure more police post for us. I want the vigilante group to be more equipped, we have confidence in them, they tried, they do their work very well.
“But I want them to be well equipped so that the cultist and other people who violates the law will be more scared of them. They will know that the community is well guided and protected.“
