An offering that plans to assist Nigerian vigilante groups to help ‘secure communities’ has been launched by Nigerian mobile network provider Globacom.
Vigicom is particularly expected to allow members of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN) to make free calls among themselves and their family members if they have at least N1,000 on their Glo Mobile number.
VGN describes itself as voluntary non-government security operatives that assist in the maintenance of law and order in Nigeria.
Vigilante groups have sprung up across Nigeria as some civilians lack trust in the police service with regard to fighting crime. Vigilante groups in Northern Nigeria have even taken up arms in the fight against Islamist Boko Haram militants, the BBC reported in September.
A national survey carried out by the CLEEN Foundation in 2012 found that only 50% Nigerians were willing to report crimes to the police. CLEEN is a Lagos-based NGO that aims to reduce crime by promoting accessible justice and dialogue.
The CLEEN Foundation, though, does refer to vigilantes in Nigeria as ‘voluntary or community police officers’ in a bid to steer clear of the connotative association with mob justice groups,
But despite trying to safeguard Nigerians, some vigilante groups or ‘community police officers’ have attracted controversy in Nigeria for having difficult relationships with the police and taking the law into their own hands.
Nevertheless, Globacom has created a service that caters for vigilante groups.
And speaking at the official launch of Vigicom, Globacom head of public sector, Tunde Amunikoro, said the company is conscious of the impact that local vigilante groups have made in security efforts.
“The essence of Vigicom is to enable security men to send or receive alerts and reach out to critical stakeholders, particularly in distress, without being encumbered by the non-availability of recharge cards even in the remotest part of the country,” he said.
“Take for instance armed security men deployed on the highway to secure travelers against robbers. How would they be able to communicate with each other as well as their headquarters and families in case of emergencies without having to recharge. This is in consideration of the fact that that recharge cards are not in the remote highways. With Vigicom, that challenge is over,” Amunikoro added.
Alhaji Ali Sokoto, commander general of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN), said that he expects Vigicom to help in effective local policing of remote areas and also assist in gathering necessary intelligence about criminals.
He endorsed the Vigicom product and thanked Globacom for coming out with the service.
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