Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, has commenced the training of the newly recruited Community Protection Guards aimed at effectively fighting the bandits.
Speaking during the flagging off ceremony of the training of the newly recruited Community Protection Guard in Gusau, Matawalle said his administration was moving towards implementing new security measures.
The Governor said his administration has come up with additional measures for combating insurgency in the state, among which is the recruitment of Community Protection Guards in each of the 19 Emirate Councils of the state.
He said the decision to establish Community Protection Guards was informed by his administration’s desire to work out all possible options to deal with the increasing act of bandity causing loss of lives, untold hardships and rupturing intercommunal peace in some parts of the state.
Matawalle informed the newly recruited Community Protection Guards of the task ahead of them, and urged them to concentrate fully on their training.
He said, “As community protection Guards, yours is a patriotic call, your names would stand out in history as people with remarkable patriotism, selflessness and love for peace.
“Only people with courage and bravery will offer to serve as guards of their communities, bravely standing up to face the brutal infamy of the bandits”.
The Governor also called on them to work within the parameters of the rules of engagement which will be clearly spelt out during the training.
He pointed out that as the newly recruited Community Protection Guards, they were agents of the restoration of normalcy, building peace and re-enactment of the golden era of harmonious intercommunal relationship in the northern part of the country.
The Governor added that at the end of the training, the CPG members would be deployed to their various communities in the 19 Emirate Councils of the state to energetically complement the security forces in the fight against banditry and sundry crimes.
He reminded them to remain disciplined and obedient throughout the exercise and to keep in mind that they were trained for a life saving mission that would spare their neighborhoods from horror and suffering.
Matawalle also told them that they were the ones that would restore the dignity of human life and peaceful coexistence in the state.