A northern cleric has challenged the police explanation that armed men seen in a viral Katsina video were vigilantes and hunters, asking how such groups came to possess heavy weapons.
Fresh questions have emerged over the viral Katsina video showing a police officer interacting with armed men, after a northern cleric publicly challenged the Nigeria Police Force’s explanation that the men were vigilantes and hunters.
The controversy began after the Nigeria Police Force dismissed claims that the officer was fraternising with bandits, insisting that the men in the video were members of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria and registered hunters assisting security operations in Musawa and Matazu local government areas of Katsina State. The Force described the original claim attached to the video as false and misleading.
That explanation has now drawn a counter-question from a northern cleric, who opposed the police position and asked where vigilantes obtained such heavy weapons. The objection shifts the focus of the story from whether the men were bandits to the broader issue of the level of firepower in the hands of non-state local security actors.
The exchange reflects the sensitivity surrounding security narratives in states affected by banditry. Once the police offered a clarification, the debate did not close; it moved instead to the question of accountability and the nature of armed civilian support groups operating alongside formal security agencies.
For now, the police maintain that the armed men in the video were vigilantes and hunters, while the cleric’s intervention has added a new layer of scrutiny to that claim.