INSECURITY: Nigerian Senate Proposes Law For Hunters To Tackle Bandits, Kidnappers

The Nigerian Senate has proposed a law which will put to rest the notion that various hunter groups lacked the constitutional powers tackle insecurity in the country.

The proposed law tagged ‘The Nigerian Hunters’ Council of Nigeria Bill, 2020 (SB. 477), which has passed second reading on Tuesday, was sponsored by Senator Biodun Olujimi.

Speaking with journalist on Tuesday, Senator Olujimi said that the law, when enacted, would empower the hunters to provide community policing, maintain law and order and offer community service for Nigerians.

The lawmaker added that the proposed law would make the hunters work in synergy with other security agencies to bring stability, security and peace of mind to the country.

“Efficient policing requires information sharing between the civil populace and the security agencies. That is why it is said that security is everybody’s business.

“When passed in to law, the Hunters’ Council Bill will ensure that farmers will go to their farms, plant their seeds and return home without fear.

“Traders will also carry out their trading and take the proceeds to the bank with the assurance that nobody will waylay them on the way.

“Most neighborhood crimes are more often perpetrated by offenders who reside near the victims which show that crime is primarily a local problem which can be best solved locally using native or local intelligence.

“The bill seeks to control and prevent crime from within the community as doing that from outside the community entails recruiting strangers who might not be familiar with crime terrains as well as criminals in the community.

“The recent development has shown that this new wave of crime has been taken to the forest and combating it requires the establishment of an institution that is conversant with our forests,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) said they are tired and frustrated of over the rising insecurity bedeviling the country, especially the North-west region.