Group pushes for security watch committee in 774 councils

The National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) has called for the establishment of security watch committees in the 774 local councils of the federation.

In a statement on Monday, the group, led by Comrade Solomon Adodo, argued that the teeming population of youths working in concert with security agents would be beneficial in achieving the objective.

Adodo condemned in the strongest terms the callous, senseless, and utterly inhumane killings that occurred just days ago in Benue State, where no fewer than 200 innocent Nigerians—men, women, and children—were butchered in cold blood in the Yelwata community of Guma Local Government Area.

The group remarked that the development is not just an attack on a village, but on shared humanity, fragile peace, and the country’s future.

The group recalled with deep sorrow the consistent bloodshed in Plateau State over the past months and years, which has claimed hundreds of lives and displaced thousands.

It noted that the incidents, whether driven by ethnic bigotry, land disputes, terrorism, or criminal opportunism, must never be normalised.

“We call on every Nigerian youth—from the bustling cities to the remotest villages—to embrace our collective responsibility in securing our homeland. We are 70 per cent of the population,” the group added.

“That is not just a statistic, it is a force that must now be channelled into collaborative intelligence gathering, community vigilance, and a serious active partnership with all our security agencies.

“Security is not magic. It is intelligence, trust, and coordinated action. We cannot afford to be bystanders. We cannot continue to see something and say nothing. We cannot hand over our future to violence while we spectate from the sidelines.”

The group, therefore, called for the formation of youth peace and security watch committees in every local government area (LGA) and ward, to report unusual movements, suspicious gatherings, and strange activities, as well as to use social media responsibly for the dissemination of truth and alerts, not fear and propaganda.

The group further called for the resistance to the temptation of hate speech, ethnic profiling, or politicised victimhood.

The NYCN commended the gallant security operatives for their service and sacrifices, just as it stressed that the war against terror, criminality, and violence must be fought with strategy and synergy not in silos.

It called for a renewed push for actionable justice, a full-scale deployment of technology-enabled surveillance, and a fast-tracked rollout of community policing frameworks that empower grassroots security architecture.