The Benue state government has said a group known as Nigeria Hunters and Forest Security Guards is not a creation of the state and its actions are not at its behest.
The group sparked outrage after a video of its shaving off a lady’s tinted hair by force with scissors went viral on Tuesday.
They stopped a motorcycle conveying her and pinned her down on the main road in Makurdi and shaved her.
They have caused confusion in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, as they continued to mete out such treatment to other residents of the state.
The activities of the group came to the fore few days ago when they drove in a convoy around town, catching people, especially young people with dyed hairs, and shaving them on the spot.
It would be recalled that a similar controversy was generated in Gboko in 2018 when young people with bushy popularly referred to as “Afro” and those keeping long beards, as well as wearing saggy trousers, sighted at public places were labelled “bad” by a youth organisation that shaved such people’s hair or beards on the spot.
Worried by the recent development, Governor Samuel Ortom has ordered the immediate arrest of the leaders of the group, who he said were operating illegally.
Gov Ortom, in a statement by his spokesman, Nathaniel Ikyur, noted that the Hunters and Forest Security Guards in Makurdi, on Tuesday, caused heavy security breaches on the streets of Makurdi and shaved a young lady’s hair.
The governor, who distanced himself and his administration from the activities of the “illegal” organization, added that, “They are not an agency of the state government.”
The statement further reads: “The Hunters and Forest Security Guards is not a creation of the Benue State Government, and we absolutely do not have any relationship with it in whatever form. As the chief security officer of the state, I am appalled by the unlawful acts of these people, and I condemn this in unequivocal terms and state categorically that my government has nothing to do with this group and its actions.”
Meanwhile, the statement indicated that some leaders of the group have been arrested by the police for breach of security.
Those arrested are Ajonye Peter, the commandant; Leva Luther, deputy commandant; Jov Peter Charles; admin officer; and Godwin Adinya, adviser.