A coalition of youths from across the country has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to grant the request of Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom and his fellow governors from across the states for the procurement of arms and ammunition to enhance local security in their respective domains.
The youths made the call in a statement signed by Goodluck Ibem, President General, Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL) and other regional youth leaders.
The youths said the call was to support initiatives of the Benue State government and governments of states in the South-West to localise security in their areas based on the peculiarity of the challenges confronting their people.
The Coalition appealed to the president Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to grant the requests by Governor Ortom and his South-West counterparts to procure arms for the Benue Community Volunteer Guards, BCVG and the South-West security outfit, “Amotekun” to bolster security in their states.
They also commended the country’s conventional security agencies for the frantic efforts they are making to tackle insecurity in the country.
They noted that there is need for states to have localised security outfits to compliment the mainstream agencies in the task of securing lives and property.
COSMBYLA also appealed to President Buhari not to listen to those who claim that the local security outfits would be used to intimidate political opponents.
The coalition noted that those who are against the formation of BCVG and “Amotekun” should rather be suspected as part of the collaborators or allies of the perpetrators of heinous crimes in parts of the country.