Are Nigeria's vigilantes as bad as bandits they're chasing?

Concerns have emerged over how some members of Nigeria's "Community Watch Corps" groups operate.

The vigilante groups were introduced to complement the efforts of conventional security agencies to fight criminals, known locally as bandits, who raid and loot villages, kill residents and burn houses to the ground.

But many Nigerians now accuse the the vigilante security groups of extrajudicial killings and torture while interrogating the suspected bandits.

Tit-for-tat killings

According to some residents in the states where the groups operate — including Nigeria's northern states of Katsina, Zamfara and Sokoto — the groups are getting out of hand.

Nigeria's impoverished Zamfara state first introduced a civilian militia in 2018, but the vigilantes were accused of extrajudicial killings of suspected bandits — leading to reprisals and tit-for-tat killings that prompted the state government to ban vigilantes in 2020. 

But last month, Zamfara's state governor inaugurated a 2,600-strong vigilante force after they had undergone thorough training to prevent abuses, according to authorities.

And neighboring Katsina state set up a 2,400-strong volunteer force dubbed the "Community Watch Corps" in October last year to help fight bandits.

'Reckless and unprofessional' 

Vigilante security groups have been accused of torturing and killing the same civilians they have been tasked with protecting. 

Musa Magaji, one of the locals whose father was tortured to death by them told DW that his father was innocent of the crime of which he was accused.

"They accused my father of relating with the bandits, and with no further investigation they tortured and killed him," Magaji said.

"What I need from the authorities is compensation for the death of my father, and to regulate the activities of the corps."

Part of the problem?

Kabir Audu claims he sustained injuries while being interrogated by the Watch Corps and said Nigerian authorities must treat citizens' concerns urgently.

"The best thing here is the involvement of journalists because they can investigate and report about these issues," Audu told DW.

"In addition, political and traditional rulers have a role to play in orienting and directing the corps on the processes of investigation over accusations before any action."

The heavily-armed vigilantes have been operating in the Rugu Forest, which spans Zamfara, Katsina and Kadina states. It is an area that is under-policed, where authorities have struggled to root out criminal activity.

Bandits have regularly launched attacks on rural communities and carried out kidnappings for ransom. Thousands of people have been killed or abducted.

Why are vigilante groups needed?

Security expert Yahuza Gesto told DW that the establishment of the corps was necessary as conventional forces had failed in protecting civilians.

"The conventional system that we have that is the military, the DSS [the Department of State Services], the police, and all other formal organized structures of the security system architecture have failed to deliver and as a result of that, the states are now coming up with a new vision and a new strategy," Gesto told DW.

Ending the violence

Nigerian lawyer and human rights activist Fatimah Jibo said that disbanding the watch corps was not the answer. Instead they required retraining. "With training they will understand that they have a limit to what they can do," she told DW. "So for them to really know what they are supposed to do, the first thing is to train them, let them understand what they are there to do, let them know the extent of their powers and the limitations they have."

It has been a struggle for Nigerian officials to end the violence in the northwest, especially after several peace deals and amnesties with bandit militias have failed.

That means the community watch groups are here to stay for now and residents in areas in which they operate can only hope that the security situation will improve. 

This article has been adapted by Isaac Kaledzi from a report by Shehu Salmanu broadcast on DW's AfricaLink podcast.