Gov Okowa tells FG to redirect fuel subsidy funds to healthcare and education Buhari asks IGP to go after those attacking police stations, says shoot-on-sight order still in place Nigerian Army gets new spokesperson Minister says 46 million Nigerians lack access to toilet Gov Ayade’s aide moves to APC with over 1,000 supporters Femi Adesina urges media to save Nigeria from catastrophe 90% primary 6 pupils in Niger public schools cannot read, write FG opens bid to pick auctioneers for recovered assets Trending
Anxiety grips The Synagogue, Ikotun and environs following the death of Nigeria s foremost evangelist Prophet T.B Josuha [Pulse Report]
LAGOS, NigeriaââThis gun, our forefathers used to use it for catching animals,â said the elderly man as he handled the decrepit rifle.
âThe bandits will be firing at us with AK-47s, AK-49s, and other sorts of machine guns. But those vigilantes who are well equipped with the grass root,â he said, now holding up some herbs, âthe bullet doesnât penetrate their body.â
Mustafa, whose name has been changed to preserve his anonymity, is a 35-year veteran of the local vigilante force in Niger state, a large, predominantly rural area in northwestern Nigeria. With overstretched federal security forces handling Nigeriaâs myriad security challenges, local vigilantes like Mustafa are on the front lines of a nebulous battle with so-called bandits whose violence has killed thousands of people and displaced many more in the northwest over the past decade. Patrolling the bush with old hunting rifles and incense-laden amulets believed to provide mystical