The Arewa Youths Consultative Council (AYCC) says it has begun orientation for over 2,750,000 youths in the north to curb the rising spate of kidnapping, banditry and insurgency in the region.
Speaking during a youth conference in Kano, on Saturday, Zaid Ayuba, national president of AYCC, said about 137,500 youths will be selected from 19 northern states, including Abuja, for the purpose.
According to him, the council has concluded plans to engage 1,145 youths every month and 13,750 youths every year and train to acquire major security traits, including the acts of community policing.
He said the programme is expected to be carried out under the sustainable security project for 19 northern states, adding that the project will run for a period of 10 years.
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Zaib Ayuba added that the project is also designed to build the capacity of women to actively play a role in countering violent extremism and radicalisation.
“To discourage the recruitment of youths into various criminal gangs, banditry and Jihadist groups through awareness campaigns, sensitization programmes and capacity development initiatives, among other issues,” he said.
“The project also has a vision to establish a permanent and reliable avenue for engagement and sensitization of young people across the 19 northern states on the implementation of youth’s strategy in community policing and other security conscious efforts in order to effectively tackle the rising problems of insecurity in our region and Nigeria.”
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In his remarks, Mukhtar Atiku Kurawa, chairman of the occasion and vice-chancellor of Yusuf Maitama Sule University, Kano, asked northern youths to wake up to the challenges of saving the region from the challenges of insecurity.
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