The newly hired Community Protection Guards' training has begun, according to the Zamfara state administration (CPG).
Each of the state's 19 Emirate Councils hired the CPG.
Governor Bello Matawalle stated during the occasion on Saturday that his administration is dedicated to putting additional security measures in place to tackle insurgency in the state.
Regarding the choice to create the CPG, he stated that it was motivated by his administration's need to explore all possibilities in order to deal with the rising act of banditry that was inflicting fatalities, unspeakable suffering, and the disruption of intercommunal peace in various areas of the state.
Matawalle briefed the CPG on their duty and asked them to give their training their full attention.
"As community protection guards, yours is a patriotic call, your names would stand out in history as people with remarkable patriotism, selflessness and love for peace, only people with courage and bravery will offer to serve as guards of their communities, bravely standing up to face the brutal infamy of the bandits," he said.
He urged them to operate within the confines of the rules of engagement, saying they will be made very apparent during the training.
Authorities in Zamfara recently urged locals to arm themselves against bandits.
While several attempts to appease the bandits have fallen on deaf ears, the state has documented countless attacks in the continuous banditry destroying the North West region.
When kids were kidnapped from classrooms, the government allegedly entered into a fictitious peace agreement with the gangs and paid significant ransoms, but the attacks persisted.