Ado Buba, Wase LGA Chairman, says his administration bought the guns because farmers are not allowed to go to the farm anymore because of the rising insecurity in the area.
The Chairman of Wase Local Government of Plateau State, Ado Buba, has said his administration is currently procuring firearms for vigilantes because of the dire security situation in the area.
Mr Ado Buba said the administration has so far bought 80 pump-action guns for vigilantes.
He, however, said the Council is restrained by the economic situation from procuring more.
He disclosed this on Thursday during a meeting with the special ad-hoc committee of the House of Representatives investigating the insecurity in some parts of Plateau State.
Mr Buba and the members of the committee, led by Hassan Fulata (APC, Jigawa) held a meeting at the Headquarters of Wase Local Government in Wase.
The Deputy Speaker of the House, Idris Wase (APC, Plateau) had last year moved a motion on the killings in Plateau State, particularly in his constituency, Wase Federal Constituency.
The House resolved to set up an ad hoc committee to investigate the killings. It did not however commence work until after about six months.
Last week, Mr Wase also raised concerns about the insecurity in the state, noting that the resolutions of the House are now like “mere statements”. He lamented that no report has been submitted on the motion he moved.
Mr Buba said the government had to take drastic action against insecurity because farmers are not allowed to go to the farm.
He said the people of the communities are expecting the state and federal governments to support the local government.
“We’ve also empowered our vigilantes by getting some pump-action guns for them. We have a total of 80 so far.
But because of the economic crunch, we could not go further and that is why we are trying at all costs to see that, the other two senior tiers (Federal and State) governments come to our rescue too so that at least, our people will be able to farm this year and get what they are going to eat.
“Because it’s adversely affecting the farming activities and also the activities that are within the Local Government,” he said.
In his speech, Mr Fulata said the House is worried about the security situation in the state. He added that terrorists are operating freely in the state.
“It’s very unfortunate that terrorists and bandits are having a field day here.
They have stopped farmers from cultivating their lands, they are abducting people for ransom, and there are a lot of atrocities being committed. This is what we observed here so far,” he said.
Mr Fulata said the panel will meet with the governor of the state, Simon Lalong, on the security situation.