INTRODUCTION
Managing
Security during primitive Hausa society was paramount, and everyone was
concerned about checkmating frequent crimes. That is why the traditional
authority strategically designed crime control and prevention at the local
level. Crime prevention is part of managing Security that deals with an action
or actions taken to stop criminal activities from occurring in a community.
Crime control is a method designed by the local authority and the government to
reduce crime in a society. It is a well-known fact that before the advent of
colonialism, Africa had a system of justice and adjudication hinged on fear of
deities which attracted instant sanctions and punishments. Hence, making the
people conform to the ethos of the community, but the coming of the Europeans
has altered/changed the people's cognitive mapping of what constitutes social
order and control through the introduction of new methods leading to the
abandonment of the traditional social control patterns, systems and mechanisms
that was instant, efficient and effective. This conventional crime relegation
control mechanism in favour of modern crime mechanisms has done more harm than
good in Nigeria. It has been discovered that the high rate of crimes in
northwest Nigeria is increasing daily with less effective measures from the
government at all levels. Banditry, kidnapping and other related social vices
hindered the socioeconomic development of the region as a whole. This better
experience led to the finding of alternatives to address the menace of insecurity
in the local community. Adopting the Vigilante security mechanism is the best
way to reduce crimes and insecurity (Shehu, 2019).
Concept of Security
It is beyond
a reasonable doubt that security is a very vital issue in the survival of any
society or nation. This is because society will be rife with lawlessness,
conflict, violence, and chaos and eventually collapse without providing
Security that could protect life and property. Security is considered as a
dynamic condition, which involves the relative ability of a state to counter
threats to its core values and interests (Omede, 2011). Security has been described as objective, measures the
absence of threats to acquire values, and in a subjective sense, the lack of fear
that such matters will be attacked (Wollfers, 1962). Many scholars emphasize the absence of threat to
acquire value or tendencies that would undermine national cohesion and peace as
a step for determining what security meant. Security is the condition of safety
from harm or danger, the defence, protection and the absence of threats to
acquire value (Jaje, 2013). The Security of societies, whether primitive or modern,
is essential because their survival and development depend upon the government
which people willingly surrender their rights and authority to protect them. In
a general conception, Security has to do with freedom from danger or threats to
a nation which is the ability to preserve and develop itself, promote its
cherished values and legitimate interest and enhance the well-being of its
people. Thus, internal security could be seen as the freedom or the absence of
those tendencies which could undermine internal cohesion and the cooperative existence
of the nation and its ability to maintain its vital instructions for the
promotion of its core value and socio-political and economic objectives, as
well as meeting the legitimate aspirations of the people. Internal Security
also implies freedom from danger to life and property (Imobighe
cite in Jude 2013). From this point of view, the concept of the Security of any
nation encompasses other vital areas such as environmental protection, social
and food security and especially the prevalence of internal peace.
Insecurity in perspective
The
insecurity challenges have posed a formidable perspective by forcing the
country's political and economic manager and indeed the entire nation, to true
loss of their beloved ones, investors and investments and the absence of safety
in most of the country and, by and large, the chance of survival of democracy
is very narrow because without security, things are hardly possible (Comfort
2013). Insecurity has been viewed as a state of not knowing, a lack of control,
and the inability to take defensive acts against forces that portend harm or
danger to an individual or group or make them vulnerable (Onifade et, 2013). It has been examined that insecurity "the state of
fear or anxiety stemming from a concrete or alleged lack of protection." (Beland, 2015) Insecurity has continued to threaten the very fabric of
national integration and created an ecology of fear,
disquiet and anxiety. It has also meted a deadly blow or what has been referred
to as "Special bite" to industrial development (Onifade et, 2013). The nature of insecurity differs and varies from one
country to another, from one region to another. For instance, in the southwest,
the insecurity was exacerbated by army robbery, ethnic militia and hooliganism.
In the Northern part of the country, insecurity was characterized by
fundamentalism and extremism of religious crises taken over the side. From the
Eastern and Southern parts of the country, the major pandemic to insecurity is
kidnapping, Niger-delta Militancy, and bunkering among the crimes.
Brief Historical Background of Wudil
Wudil
local government area is one of the forty-four LGAs that make up Kano state, Northwest geopolitical region of Nigeria. The headquarters
of the LGA is in the town of Wudil, and the LGA
comprises towns and villages, which include Achika, Juma, Lajawa, Yarka,
Utai, Makera, Kausani, Gware, Dagumawa, and Buda. The estimated population of Wudil LGA is 182,304, with the area's major inhabitants
being members of the Hausa/Fulani ethnic division. The Hausa language is
commonly spoken in the LGA, while the religion of Islam is widely practised in
the area. Notable landmarks in Wudil LGA include the Wudil Model primary school and the Government Secondary
School, Wudil. Thus, Wudil
covered within latitude and longitude coordinates are 11,794242,8.839032.
Wudil is a small city in northern Nigeria, with a
population of close to 180,000 people. It is the capital city of a small
district, Wudil district, and a small transportation
knot near the highway. Wudil LGA occupies a total
area of 362 square kilometres and has an average temperature of 34 degrees
centigrade. The LGA witnesses two distinct seasons, which are the dry and the
rainy seasons, while the average wind speed in the area is put at 9 km/h (Diary, 2022)
Evolution of
Traditional Politics and Security Structures in Wudil
Records show that the early beginning of Wudil dates
back to the 9th Century AD when Abagayawa, from the
present-day Gaya, 16 kilometres away from Wudil, on
their way to the foot of Dala Hill to excavate iron
ore, briefly settled in Wudil near the river bank. Abagayawa decided at the place now referred to as Kukar Dafi, 90 years before Bagauda came to Kano in 1060 AD (Musa and Osi, 2011; Dankawata and Malamin, 2011; Garba, 2011). The
activity indicated that for more than ten centuries, inhabitants of Kano
province, of which Wudil is an integral part, were
capable of producing riches because of the mastery of skills to technologically
invent farm implements, defence arsenals, grow food and extract minerals, iron
deposits from the soil. Wudil is a flourishing town
and a leading commercial centre. Weaving, Embroidery, dyeing, tanning, and
pottery greatly improved. Embroidery and tailoring were remarkably enhanced.
Other chief articles in the market were hoes, leather products, mats, hide and
skin exported to faraway lands in Bornu (North-Eastern Nigeria), Adamawa
province, Cameroon Republic and to the North as far as Tripoli (Musa and Osi, 2011). As Abagayawa left Wudil for Kano, historical traditions assert that a
community of hunters camped at Garin Dau and later moved into the present Wudil
town. These hunters grouped themselves into communities of farmers, fishermen,
and blacksmiths. Hence, the emergence of the political structures of Gidan Sarkin Noma
(Residence of the head of farmers), Gidan Makera (house of blacksmiths) and later Unguwar
Makera (Blacksmiths' Ward) Unguwar
Magina (Pottery Ward) (Musa and Osi,
2011). From then on, blacksmithing became one of the famous technological
expressions of Wudilawa (Wudil
people) practised by early residents, which continues to date. Fishing is one
of the prominent professions in Wudil. These
fishermen use local fishing materials such as birgi, yan zube, tanka,
gora, kalli, and koma (Musa and Osi, 2011).
Fishing is an ancient economic activity that gave rise to remarkable profitable
value in the pre-colonial period. Trade in fish became popular among the people
in pre-colonial Wudil, stimulating migration and
attracting many fishermen from their original settlements for better
opportunities (Hauwa, 2022).
Prominent
among the group that permanently settled in Wudil
were Daudu, Disai and Kwaiwa. Daudu became an informal
leader uniting and integrating the already decided groups within the framework
of justice and equality based on shared common traditions to prosper and rise
to eminence, making a great impact in both political and economic spheres (Musa
and Osi, 2011; Dankawata,
and Malamin, 2011; Garba,
2011). The Dan Daudu (descendent of Daudu) became a figure evolved by the laws and customs of
the people and was, therefore, part of the people's cultural heritage.
Leadership practised by the traditional Wudil
community can be defined as a hereditary system of government in which an
individual performs executive, legislative, and judicial roles. The powers
exercised by the monarchs were absolute, constrained by the customary or
religious institutions, which performed roles such as appointment, removal of
office holders, and superintending within the system (Musa, 2011; Dambazau,
1994).
The Conceptual View on 'Yan Banga
(The Vigilantes Group)
This
category of the traditional gang of people tagged 'Yan-Tauri'
are found virtually in every society in Nigeria, not
only in Hausaland. They have their dogs, locally made
guns, swords, arrows and bows fortified by charms. They encounter all sorts of
criminals, whether at night or during the day, who are dealt with severely.
Their sole functions and duties are to be exercised within the traditional
limit, and constitutional power is confided on them to arrest and prosecute
before the local court or palace court. They engage themselves in spiritualism,
an aesthetics one against all odds. Vigilantes are found in every city, town
and village with the community's support for greater control of crimes,
insecurity menace and social evils. Their role in fighting insecurity and crime
control in society is not quantifiable considering their active performance in
the fight against Boko-Haram, Banditry and Kidnapping in the social milieu in
the country ('Yandaki, 2015; Tauri, 2019; Hauwa, 2022).
The concept
of vigilante groups in traditional form is described as unarmed voluntary
citizen groups created in local communities to help the security forces
confront common crimes and social violence by arresting suspected criminals and
handing them over to the Police. Nigerian law recognizes the lawfulness of
vigilante groups arresting suspected criminals, provided they are unarmed, and
the suspect is immediately handed over to the Police (Report, 2008). The term Vigilante is viewed as neighbourhood or
community vigilantes, organized by street associations in cities or villages in
rural areas to man street entrances or village gates,
as the case may be, at night. They also carry out foot patrols at night to
reassure community members that some people are watching over their
communities. They are not armed but often carry whistles, which they use to
alert the neighbourhoods if there are unwanted "guests" (Chukwuma, 2002).
This kind of
informal policing, the historical antecedent, revealed that Vigilante has
existed since 1922 as a neighbourhood guard in the USA. But the historical
records indicated that Vigilante came into existence in Nigeria in 1983 as a
vigilante group during the Buhari regime as part of
the efforts to prevent and control crime. Due to its resilient, in 1984, the
then Inspector General of Police, Etim Inyang, inaugurated the Police Community Relation Committee
(PCRC) in all the States of the Federations and directed Commissioners of
Police to urgently revitalize vigilante groups to enable the Police and public
to interact regularly in the fight against crime (Kehinde, 2021). Initially, crime control and security management were
part of the police constitutional mandate to protect life and property in the
country, but because the Police cannot do it alone without involving the
community as policing to share local intelligence, the Vigilante is coopted in managing local Security in Nigeria.
The Various Categories of Vigilante Group
From the
African perspective, four typologies of vigilantism have been identified. These
include religious vigilantism, ethnic, state-sponsored, and neighbourhood or
community vigilantism. The belief is that this category is not rigid or
exclusive since one type of group could combine the features of two or more (Chukwuma, 2002).
Vigilante and Managing Local Crime and Security in Wudil Local Government
The empirical
studies of traditional informal mechanisms of crime control have evolved in
various terms from scholarly views such as "traditional,"
"customary," "indigenous," "informal,"
"non-state," "local," "community," as well as
"popular," and "participatory," often complexities in both
discourse and practice. In some cases, they capture the same social phenomenon,
while in others' perspectives, their meanings are
quite a momentum (Adegoke, 2008; 'Yandaki,
2015, Shehu, 2021). Reuben clarified the concept in
an attempt to give distinctive differences using the word informal justice
system to distinguish the terms of state-administered formal mechanism systems
and non-state administrated informal mechanism." (Reuben,
2001; Richard, 1982). The term informal mechanism is used to refer to
its basic attributes. It is defined as unofficial (dissociated from state
power), non-coercive (dependent rather than force), non-bureaucratic,
decentralized, relatively undifferentiated, and non-professional; its
substantive and procedural rules are imprecise, unwritten, democratic,
flexible, ad hoc, and particularistic (Richard, 1982). Traditional crime
control techniques are informal mechanisms or ways used by communities, with
particular reference to the Wudil Local Government
Area of Kano State from time immemorial and are still relevant for crime
control and checks and balances. Traditionally, they controlled crime through a
variety of means, including family members, peer groups, community
associations, elder councils, Emir and village heads, and Vigilante, among
others, whose roles included interpreting the subsisting community's code of
conduct and behaviour as passed down from generation to generation. Unlike
Western societies, traditional societies did not have written rules to regulate
behaviour, but they did have well-established systems for managing crime and
maintaining social order (Hauwa, 2022).
Thus, the
town Wudil, like other local governments in the Kano
state, is not exemptional regarding insecurity as a
whole. It recorded significant insecurity in the last coupled
years, especially the Boko-Haram factor. According to the researcher, armed
robbery, banditry, kidnapping, rape, occupational crimes, drug peddling, and
other crimes of varying magnitudes are rising in Nigeria, particularly in Wudil LGA. Residents in Wudil
have been more concerned due to these crimes, which frequently result in jungle
justice, mostly with occupational crimes. The issues of crime and deviance have
become a topic of conversation among today's citizens. The Western criminal
system, which is currently the primary method of crime control, has done little
to solve this cultural divide. Worse, modern technical advancements in
communication have assisted crime because it is often impossible to express
what is unlawful. The current methods of crime control are typically lengthy
and costly, with judgments and verdicts always being delayed and with the
tendency for justice to be denied and criminals to be released (Hauwa et al., 2022).
Surveillance and Local Intelligence
The
tradition of the then political security structures of Wudil,
like any other in Hausaland, was centralized with the
onus of daily vigilantism. Of course, there is a check and balance in case of a
security breach. The palace authority could be well articulated and extended to
every village, ward and clan. The chain of transmission of daily intelligence
gathering ran from the community head up to the Emir. The degree of
surveillance was astonishing because everyone involved, even the leaders,
deaf-mutes, the blind, and the beggars, was organized and cooperated. The iota
of these security strategies in primordial society is that any complainant
could expect to see the Emir or his local headman personally to report the
issues or any movement of a very suspicious person. This mechanism of eagle-eye
has aided security intelligence reports to traditional authorities with
assurance and confidence in the larger society (Last, 2016).
Vigilante Weekly Meetings with Settler Communities in Wudil Town
The weekly
meetings with settlers are another security strategy adopted by the Vigilante
in Wudil town to ensure no one is left out on
identifying crime and criminal activities among the larger populace. This kind
of meeting usually occurs at the end of the last week of every month. The
leadership of those settler communities, including the youth local association,
women association and a security agency representative, will be invited equally
at the headward and district head levels. During the
meeting, some grey areas will be identified; holistically, a collective
decision will be taken to arrest the situation (Shehu,
2022). The agenda of the meeting is cut-across all social vices ranging from
youth restiveness, frequent broken marriages, prostitution as well as control
of hawkers who come as a result of market day. The resolution is bonded to all
and should be adhered to later.
Checking Adaidata Sahu (Tricycle Operators) for Intruders by Vigilante
This
strategy has yielded tangible results in checkmating criminals who use the
opportunity to kidnap people for ransom. With the tricycle operator union's
assistance, some measures are designed to identify criminals or will commit
crimes and escape. A special identity card has been created. They also watch
any suspicious movement by any tricycle operator at any location. Equally
important, the socioeconomic security situation was welled monitored, as in the
case of the caravan that passed by, which is stopped for search and check, then
later allowed to proceed with the journey. And those
who want to enter the city or town for commercial activities have to ensure
that they are not enemies in disguise. Consequently, it is believed that many
peoples or communities in Wudil and Hausaland resorted to adopting alliances or going for
natural forces for self-protection. That was why many Hausa communities
employed indigenous security strategies; as such, some decided to live in
valleys, while other on top of mountains, and in addition to that, some placed
formidable fortification or obstacles such as gorges, waters fall, canyons,
mountains, rocks, the river between themselves and their aggressor (Felix, 2007).
The Role of Sarkin Baka and 'Yan-Farauta (Chief
Hunter and Hunters) in Crime Control in Wudil Town
The function
of Sarkin Baka is to look
after the hunters. So, all hunters, irrespective of their categories, are under
'Sarkin Baka' control and
surveillance. Sarkin Baka
is a title found in every place in Hausaland.
Originally, the duty of Sarkin Baka
was to be in charge of merchants who arrived in the town to trade; also, to
find them reasonable accommodation, introduce them to customers, and ensure the
safety and Security of their wealth is protected. Not only that, Sarkin Baka has the
responsibility to accord accommodation for those strangers who come to visit
the Emir. 'Yan-Farauta' is a category of classical
men and women who played a pivotal role in cementing the security architecture
of the entire Hausa community. Hunters are regarded as 'yanfarauta' in the Hausa
language and live on the edges of urban society. It is believed that every ward
of the old city (Birni) of Hausaland
had their special group of hunters who they depend on and fight in the
eventuality of any challenging group or gangs of criminals who cause havoc or
mayhem in the existing peace of the community. The hunters possessed
traditional spirituals and were fortified by all sorts of charms, which gave
them access to any tick forest or bush no matter how dangerous. They can
penetrate, hunt with their dangerous dogs and come out successfully. On several
occasions, they successfully engaged in serious encounters with arm-robbers,
Kidnapper and bandits. It is a clear testimony to what is happening in
Maiduguri where Hunters and Vigilante are fighting Boko-haram
shoulder-to-shoulder with the Nigerian Army as a joint effort code tagged 'Civilian JTF'. It also contributed a lot
in curving rubbers, Kidnappers and bandits in Wudil
town as they fear hunters vehemently simply because the hunters know the
spiritualistic tendencies of those criminals ('Yandaki, 2015; Hashimu,
2019).
Sarkin Barayi (The Chief Thieves) in Local Security in Wudil Town
To address petty crimes among the Wudil people,
the traditional authority decided to coopt
another mechanism to deal with social crime holistically. This is where the
issue of cooperating with Sarkin Barayi
came into Livestream, a common phenomenon in Hausa society in the traditional
epoch. The title plays a pivotal role in checkmating frequent handpicking,
stealing and bungling of people belonging and whereabouts. The position of Sarkin Barayi is championed by a
former popular thief who decided to retire from the professional criminal act.
Repenting before traditionally constituted authority made him to earned respect
as he made a public confession voluntarily. An ordinance to work with the
authority in fishing out those criminals in society is consolidated and
realistic (Maidaji, 2019).
Sarkin-Barayi serves the function of identifying stolen properties and
the thief who stole them by asking him to return them to him immediately.
Usually, this process transpires once the missing belongings are reported
before the chief thieves. The stolen properties will return to the owner
without much difficulty and delay. Where any thief bungled someone's house; the
principal thief' knows who is behind the operation. Therefore, by his spiritual
power possessed, direct matching order is given to that thief to surrender
himself before the chief thieves. There are incentives given to principal
thieves for stolen belonging that are recovered and returned (Maidaji, 2019).
The Traditional methods of Security surveillance and
Crime Control in Wudil
Traditional
methods of controlling crime and maintaining Security are not universally
acceptable as they involve cultural aspects of concern. The irony of these
cultural patterns is dynamic because when people are boned together, by strong
cohesion, by bounds of community consciousness, well tribal transaction, crime
can equally be reduced to the barest minimum (Ayuk, 2013). The traditional Hausaland
security during the pre-colonial period was unique in that the core value of rulership was to provide an enabling environment where the
business of the day ran smoothly. The rulers, then, had a desire for the
security of life and protection of peoples' properties from inside and external
aggression because that was one of their cardinal principles guidelines as a
constituted authority to lead their people humanitarian, thereby prompting the
development of perimeter walls around the shelter of trees and barricades at
the cave entrance. The major cities and towns were welled around with concrete
fences (Atolagbe, 2011). These barricades of sophisticated walls assume that the
whole city and far beyond are under protection and surveillances from any
unexpected danger that might have occurred. Some of these wells' historical
remains are still there and very much alive as a momentum while others have
perished, demolished and meltdown due to human factors.
CONCLUSION
The issue of
security is a collective responsibility not only for the government alone but
also for every individual in the society. Modern security strategy cannot
complement effectively without applying local mechanisms to address the
challenge of insecurity holistically. Community policing is inevitable; as
such, it gives viable results comprehensively. Wudil,
as part of the Hausa society, could not achieve relative Security without the
collective efforts of both Vigilantes and other stakeholders. Therefore,
managing contemporary insecurity in the community has to do with the vigilante
groups in particular as a complementary outfit, in addition to the conventional
security agencies in Nigeria.
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