Daily Trust Editorial, Wednesday July 16, 2025
Deaths of vigilantes in Nigeria have become an increasingly common occurrence. It’s now routine to read reports of death by ambush or gun battle between bandits and hybrid forces, called either Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), Community Protection Guards (CPG), Civilian Protection Guard (CPG), Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN), or local hunters.
These vigilantes are now part of Joint Task Force (JTF) comprising defence and other security forces that collaboratively enhance surveillance, community protection, and rapid deployment in times of crisis. Yet, the increasing deaths put level of collaboration in doubt.
This comes just as Nigeria Security Report by private security and intelligence firm Beacon Security and Intelligence Limited (BSIL) – says Nigeria recorded staggering 6,800 fatalities across the country in the first half of 2025, representing 13.67 per cent increase compared to H2 2024 and a significant 19.11 per cent increase compared to H1 2024.
Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said in a report last week Tuesday that more people were killed by bandits or insurgents in Nigeria in the first half of 2025 than in all of 2024. According to the figures, at least 2,266 people were killed in the first half of 2025, compared to 1,083 in the first half of 2024 and 2,194 for the full year last year.
Indeed, these deaths, especially those of vigilantes are startling. For example, on Monday, July 8, 2025, alarming reports emerged that over 70 vigilantes were killed in an ambush by bandits in Odare Forest, Kanam Local Government Area (LGA) of Plateau State. Though the military put the casualty figure at eight, it admitted many others are missing. Locals insist they buried over 60 vigilantes killed in the ambush in Kukawa alone, while 10 others providing security in the Bunyun, Nyalun ward area were killed.
On Thursday July 10, 2025, at least, six members of CPG in Zamfara State were killed and others abducted following a deadly ambush by armed bandits in Bungudu LGA. On Thursday June 5, 2025, a vigilante operative was killed when gunmen invaded a vigilante facility in in Umunze Community, Orumba South LG Area of Anambra State.
On Sunday May 5, 2025 bandits killed at least 11 members of a combined team of professional hunters at Mansur village in Gwana district and the Dajin Madam forest bordering Bauchi and Plateau State.
What is most worrisome is that these killing are not a recent development. In January 2025, at least 21 members of Katsina Community Watch Corps (KCWC) who were returning from paying condolences to the family of a dead colleague were killed in an ambush by bandits in Baure, a village in the Safana district, Katsina State.
On March 8, 2022, gunmen ambushed and killed at least 62 members of a volunteer “Yan Sa Kai” vigilante group in the Sakaba area of Kebbi State.
Daily Trust believes that these killings are too many and too frequent, showing clear operations deficiencies in the way the vigilantes go about their duties. While we commiserate with the families of members of the hybrid forces killed, we also condemn the frequency and the sheer number of the vigilantes involved.
These deaths are more painful because the very idea of vigilantes being part of the nation’s security architecture is itself an anomaly, an oxymoron of the military and paramilitary agencies’ inability to live up to expectations, showing the failure of governments to protect the citizens and the citizens quest to avoid being just sitting ducks.
Unfortunately, vigilantes have become state-sanctioned necessity as states and communities embrace it as the only functional way and strategy to defend themselves. They are now too ingrained in the fight to be wished away. The reality is that they will remain with us for some time.
Therefore, Daily Trust calls for an urgent review of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that streamlines their mode of training, functionality and deployment. There must be clear criteria for their recruitment. Towards this, we urge the implementation of a systematic phasing out of their involvement in frontline operations. With proper screening, some who show promise should be retrained and deployed alongside the security forces.
What they require is proper training and retraining. With this, they will understand their operational scope and limitations, be in a much more professional state of readiness and capability and have a generally agreed and centrally approved accountability and discipline platform.
In this regard, we support Headquarters of Operation SAFE HAVEN (OPSH) new rules of engagement whereby no vigilante or group should embark on unauthorised security operations without coordinating with recognised security agencies. No more should any vigilante or group undertake mission without notifying the military, seeking approval and getting the necessary back up.
In the meantime, the vigilantes must never again embark on reckless actions that put their lives at risk as securing communities is not a matter of spontaneous bravado. In their solo missions, their lives are being wasted. They should not continue to be cannon fodder as they are a mismatch for the terrorists and bandits in terms of equipment and resilience of field experience. In any case, they have no place in the military’s Order of Battle as they generally lack sustainable tactics for asymmetric combat. Therefore, what is required is an effective security sector that will put non-state actors out of business, and put a stop to activities of vigilantes.
