Zamfara State Government said it would spend N1.53 billion annually on 8,500 youths to be engaged as members of civilian Joint Task Force (JTF) to fight crime in the state.
The Commissioner for Local Governments and Chieftaincy Affairs, Bello Dankande, made this known at a news conference in Gusau, the state capital on Tuesday.
He said the amount constituted the allowance to be paid to members of the JTF.
According to Mr Dankande, the allowance will be drawn directly from the state government’s security vote.
He explained that selected youths would undergo para-military training in crime fighting and intelligence gathering and dissemination.
The commissioner said the youth were picked from the rural areas, stating that the measure was deliberately conceived by the state government “because they know those who reside among them.
“They also know the bushes where the bandits may be hiding and it will now be easier for the conventional security to trace the bandits or their hideouts.’’
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the state governor, Abdulaziz Yari, had last week said that 500 youths would be selected from 17 emirate council in the state to join the conventional security operatives to fight crime.
Mr Yari told journalists that each of the youths would receive monthly allowance of N15, 000.
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