By Young Erhuirhoro
LAGOS MAY 18TH (URHOBOTODAY)-A security expert and the president general of Unenurhie community, Evwreni kingdom in Ughelli North LGA of Delta state, Mr. Peter Maison has recently called on the federal government to give approval to the Hunters Group of Nigeria (HGN) as part of the planned community policing across the country. Mr. Maison made this call during the three-day training course of the security group that just ended in Unenurhie Primary School, Unenurhie town.
In an interview with Urhobotoday.com correspondent during the closing session of the event, the community leader who is also a co-ordinator in the said security group said, “We started this security group for over two years now as a result of the federal government planned community policing, which many lawmakers are agitating for as a panacea or solution to many of these security challenges confronting our various local communities across the country.
“The Hunters Group of Nigeria is not a one state security outfit but it cuts across the four cardinal points of the country. They are the right people that can tame the surge of herdsmen terrorist attacks, kidnapping, banditry, ritual killings, armed robbery and other crimes in the localities. This is why I’m calling on federal government to give approval to the security group without delay.
“Very importantly, we have spent our personal financial resources on this struggle by undergoing different training programmes across strategic places in the country. This training course that is ending today is basically organized for the south-south zone of the security group. The people you are seeing here came from different states in the region. So it’s not a one man’s project.
“ On this note, our governors from the south-south region should equally throw their weight behind this group. The same way our senators and every other of our representatives in the government. It’s a noble project we must all support in order to easily combat all the security challenges in the region and the entire country, ” he stated.
In addition, , Mr. Sunday Joseph, who is a very active member of the security group and also one of the co-ordinators said, “Truly, we have spent much money in this race. Even many of our people that refused to join us that time begin to make jest of us now that the federal government has not recognized us as security outfit. We strongly believe in this project that is why we have been spending our time, money and even taking unnecessary risks to attend some of these training programmes to prove to the federal government that we are serious over the job of securing our people and our lands. So we are calling on the federal government to give immediate approval to the group as part of the community policing.
“If truly, the federal government is worried over the incessant killings by the Boko Haram in the northern region and the Fulani herdsmen killings in the southern region, then it should consider it important to give approval to the security outfit without further delay.”
Meanwhile, the Hunters Group of Nigeria (HGN), south-south zone held a three-day training course in Unenurhie Primary School, Unenurhie town in Ughelli North LGA of Delta state where senior police officers featured as guest lecturers and over three thousand members of the security group attended from Delta, Edo, Bayelsa, Rivers, Cross Rivers and Akwa Ibom states in the region. The training course ended with the presentation of course certificates to participants by the camp commandant.