Niger vigilante commandant shuts offices after 24hrs detention 

The Commandant of the Niger state Vigilante Corps,  Nasir Mohammed  Manta, has ordered the closure of all vigilante offices in the state after his arrest and detention for 24 hours by the police over the corps’ clamp down on miscreants in Minna.

It was learnt that the state Commissioner of Police, Monday Kuryas, ordered the detention  of the vigilante commandant two days ago based on compliant by influential individuals alleging his arrest of some of their wards as miscreants disturbing the peace of Minna.

It was also learnt that in the past three weeks, miscreants and restive youths have turned Minna into battle field, fighting  from one street to another, leading to panic , public disturbance and break down of law and order in the city.

While the police announced at the weekend the arrest of 22 of the miscreants, there are claims that  some of the boys have been released.  However,  the Police Public Relations Officer,  DSP Wasiu Abiodun, denied the allegations  in statement in Minna. 

DSP Abiodun argued that the claim was aimed at smearing the efforts of the command in curbing the activities of the street urchins and keeping peace and order in Minna. 

Speaking in a telephone interview with Blueprint after his release on Saturday,  the state vigilante commandant, Nasir Manta described the allegations against him as false, adding: “The Commissioner of Police did not investigate the  allegations against me by the influential individuals, who I met in his office, before ordering my detention.” 

When asked what led to his detention, the commandant explained that “the problem is the arrest of those miscreants disturbing public peace in Minna. Since some of them have the backing of some influential individuals.  They misinformed the Commissioner of Police and without investigating the allegations,  he ordered my detention. He said why should I arrest the boys without the involvement of the police?”