Stephen Enoch
The Kano State Governor Abba Kabir has committed to empowering 152 out of the 222 repentant thugs with skills acquisition in various trades and supporting others who opted to go back to school to continue with their studies.
Among the repentant thugs were 50 trained constabulary volunteers who were selected from Fagge, Gwale, Dala, Dala, Nassarawa, Ungogo, and Kano Municipal local government areas of the state.
Kano State CP Mohammed Gumel on Tuesday presented the repentant thugs to Governor Kabir at the Sani Abacha Indoor Stadium, Kofar Mata, Kano.
Receiving the repentant thugs, the Governor stated that the reintegration of the 222 repentant thugs who were hitherto being used by certain forces to perpetrate various types of crimes may be seen as perceived leniency toward the perpetrators of heinous crimes, but that isn’t the case.
He noted that remorse, apology, and forgiveness are time-honored ways to restore offenders and victims and let them move on with their lives; as well, as sanitize the society and make it conducive for socio-economic and human development.
“Kano is setting the pace as the first state in the federation to use the non-kinetic approach in bringing down the wave of crime. This is, indeed, a big plus to our administration’s resolve to build a new Kano where crime will give way to development, peace and order, and economic prosperity.
“I sincerely feel glad to receive these 222 repentant thugs. Our promising young men have realized that crime does not pay. From the day they surrendered, they have been subjected to a series of reformatory processes.
“They are ready to be reintegrated into the society and positively use their talents to prosper themselves, members of their families, and also contribute to the economic development of the state,” Governor Kabir said.
The governor called on the repentant thugs to be honest to themselves and to society to keep the promises they made on defending the people and the allegiance they made to the People, Government, Security, and indeed their parents.
He added that if anyone fails to honour the allegiance and continues with his old habit the Government and Security agencies will not hesitate to punish and take action according to the laws of the Federation.
Earlier, CP Gumel Mohammed stated that the deployment of this approach to thuggery in the state is in line with the directives and vision of the Inspector General of Police, Ag. IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, to all Police Commands, to embark on implementing a community-based policing approach.
“As of today, most of these categories of wrongdoers have willingly surrendered themselves including their weapons to the Police Command.”
According to him, the repentant thugs have been adequately trained, and kitted and will commence work in their respective Local Government of Origin under Police supervision for the promotion of sustainable peace, economic growth, and development of the State.
“Today we want you all to deliver to them some advice and motivational Talks and look inward to ways of engaging them in some Life Changing Programs. This is part of the societal healing and integration processes into the mainstream of society.
“This is in consideration of their voluntary decision to turn away from the life of crime which is to our admiration and deserves applause as it takes great courage to forego past mistakes, abandon the path of violence, and embark on seeking a legitimate and better way of life.
“I urge these influential youths to remain steadfast in their commitment to this positive change, knowing fully that the Kano State government, community stakeholders, and Police will ever stand behind them in this journey of healing, transformation, and peace-building.”
