Early this week, reports of mass abduction of residents across communities in Borno and Kaduna states by armed groups, compounded an existing insecurity and economic hardship in Nigeria under the watch of President Bola Tinubu.
The communities in Borno and Kaduna where the kidnappings occurred are some of the most insecure communities in the troubled states and have witnessed repeated terror attacks in the past. The insecurity in the areas also means limited access to non-residents including journalists, making real-time information difficult to get.
Officials of the school and community leaders had told Governor Uba Sani, alongside key government officials, who visited the school on Thursday, that 187 students were abducted from the secondary school section and 125 from the primary school section.
However, Katsina State was the first to launch 1,466-strong Community Watch Corps at a ceremony held on October 10, 2023 which had in attendance former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Thereafter, in February Zamfara followed suit by inaugurating 2,645-member Zamfara State Community Protection Guards at an event attended by a former National Security Adviser (NSA), General Aliyu Mohammed Gusau.
Zamfara and Katsina are among worst hit states by the banditry conflict prevalent mostly in the North West and North Central parts of the country.
Despite warnings of the danger by intelligence and security agencies, the two states decided to establish paramilitary vigilante groups to confront the sophisticated bandits.