JIDEOFOR ADIBE FROM VANGUARD
A RECENT report that no fewer than 50 “repentant thugs” in Kano were converted to Police Special Constabulary, PSC, by the Kano State Police Command has generated understandable concerns among the populace. The Kano State Commissioner of Police, Usaini Gumel, while addressing the “repentant thugs” at a ceremony held at Sani Abacha Stadium was quoted as saying: “Today is a happy day for the good people of Kano State and the Police Command because we passed out 50 youths from the 222 repentant thugs, who have since surrendered themselves and promised never to engage in thuggery and other social vices that have been bedevilling the state, especially during the second quarter of the year 2023.”
The CP recalled that about three months earlier, the Command invited some identified “notorious individuals” believed to be “behind the escalation of thuggery and other heinous crimes” in the state for dialogue. “We forwarded their details to the state governor for them to be supported by way of engaging them in some life-changing programmes…. It is from this number that 50 volunteered to work with the police and to contribute to the security and development of the state. Taking into consideration their commitment to ensuring peace in the state since their repentance, we trained them in classes and the field and kitted them as members of the Special Constabulary.”
It was not clear from the reports how long the ‘thugs’ had been repentant or the duration of their training before they “volunteered to work with the Police”. Kano State is, however, not the only state that has tried to rehabilitate ‘thugs’. The Daily Nigerian of September 5, 2022 reported that “two gangs of political thugs in Zamfara State embraced peace and urged the state government to engage them positively so as to contribute positively to societal development”. Members of the gang reportedly said they regretted being used by some politicians to cause mayhem on innocent citizens. The groups, said to be led by one Baba Karami and Garba Lawal, aka Vice, said they have joined the All Progressives Congress, APC, and would “support government efforts to restore peace in the state”.
There are a number of issues involved here: One is the notion of thugs. It would appear that the Kano State government used the word ‘thug’ as a generic sense to encompass all manner of socially unacceptable activity – from ruffians who may not necessarily have engaged in crimes to those suspected to be behind sundry crimes. For instance, the International Centre for Investigative Reporting in a report on October 17, 2023 noted: “On Monday, October 16, the ICIR saw pictures of Nasiru Abdullahi, popularly known as Chile Maidoki, donning a Kano State constabulary uniform alongside the State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Abdullahi Kiyawa. Sometime this year, Abdullahi and two other notorious criminals were declared wanted by the Kano State Police Command with a bounty of N100,000 each. A subsequent statement by the command confirmed that he surrendered himself to the command upon hearing the bounty placed on his head.”
While in Kano State we were told of “repentant thugs”, in Zamfara State, it seemed that the focus was more narrowly on “political thugs”. Though this is narrower than the concept of ‘thug’ it is still broad because it could be an umbrella term for all manner of people working for politicians – from private security men to political enforcers, hangers-on and hired political assassins. Again, like in Zamfara, it is not clear if the political thugs had committed any crime, and if so, whether they have been convicted by a competent court of law.
