Senator Chris Ngige, the former governor of Anambra State, has disclosed a novel strategy he used to address insecurity during his tenure, which started in 2003….CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
According to a Vanguard report published on Thursday, August 7, 2025, Ngige revealed that rather than depending entirely on conventional security forces, he opted to integrate local troublemakers whom he called to as “bad boys” into the state’s vigilante network. According to him, his government gave each Anambra village instructions to gather and submit a list of these “bad boys” for potential recruitment. Following the receipt of the names, the people were given the opportunity to work as vigilantes in exchange for giving up all illegal activity.
They wrote them, so we hired them all and brought in the bad boys. We told them, “Look, you people are bad boys, look at the list, any false movement, you are dead, but you owe us a duty to show us other bad boys, even those who have committed crime here and fled the state,” Ngige recalled. The former governor stated that the vigilantes were well-off, earning ₦30,000 a month, which he said was a significant sum in 2003, or almost ₦3 million in today’s currency.
According to Ngige, “and they complied.” We gave them large sums of money—30,000 naira in 2003, 2004, and 2005, to be exact. These days, the 30,000 naira is worth around three million. The recruits received their pay, lunch twice a day, transportation buses to help them move around, and even airtime allowances to help them communicate while on duty. Ngige emphasised that the plan was very successful in bringing security back to the entire state. He described how the vigilantes defended him amid a political crisis when he was no longer protected by the police in his capacity as governor….CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
