The Hunters Group of Nigeria on Tuesday, pleaded with members of the Senate to pass the bill seeking to grant it a legal backing.
The hunters said doing so would officially empower them to assist the Federal Government to tackle insecurity.
The Commandant of the group in Akwa Ibom State, John Essien, stated this when the HGN defended the bill on the group’s establishment before the Senate Committee on Interior.
The group said it could compliment the efforts of the conventional security agencies in apprehending bandits and the insurgents terrorising the country.
Essien therefore urged the lawmakers to pass the legislation.
He said the Bill for an Act to establish the Nigerian Hunters Council of Nigeria, was crucial to the group.
He said, “The Bill has gone through the first and second reading and the reason we are here is for public hearing. As you can see we have members across the entire villages.
“When you talk about the security challenge, if the opportunity is given to us, we can perform very well because as community-based officers you know all the strangers that come into your environment and you can easily identify those that are not from there. Maybe from there, you can be able to find out what the person’s mission is all about.
“That is the reason we are here to tell the government that we can do the job. I want to tell us that if the opportunity is given to hunters, the security challenge in the country would be minimised.
“If you look at our Facebook and social media, you see that we have been doing a lot of work arresting kidnappers, criminals, name them.
“With our presence and other security agencies, when we come together, it makes the job easier. So that is why we here today. We believe the government would not hesitate to give us a try,” he said.
Leave a Reply