A Nigerian lawmaker says he's found a way to push bandits out of his constituency — and it doesn't involve waiting for the police to show up.

Leke Abejide, who represents Yagba Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, told Channels Television on Thursday that he's deployed a squad of 100 local hunters to track and confront bandits inside the forests of his constituency in Kogi State.

The model started in December 2025, when bandits began crossing into communities that border Niger State. Abejide said he gathered all 103 traditional rulers in his constituency and told them his plan. He then appealed to the state governor for support and got a licence from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to arm the hunters.

"They have the arms and ammunition. What they do once they wake up, like this morning — they don't sleep — they have a way of operating," Abejide said. "They aren't waiting for these bandits to come out. Once they sleep and wake up, they go inside the forest to hunt for them, not them hunting for us."

Each of the 71 communities in his constituency now has between seven and ten hunters on the payroll. The hunters are on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Abejide called his approach "fortified hunters" and said the key difference is that they're paid. "They're motivated and really working," he said. He initially recruited 55 hunters, then added 45 more to reach 100.

"If we say only the government should face this challenge, we're just joking; it won't go anywhere for now."

The lawmaker made his comments as fresh cases of banditry and mass abductions hit other parts of the country. In recent weeks, scores of students and teachers have been kidnapped in Oyo and Borno States. Several Nigerians remain in captivity in different locations.

Abejide is throwing his weight behind the growing call for state police in Nigeria. He said communities must be the first line of defence, echoing advice he said he received from the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS).

"How can they be? One, if you're living in my constituency, for example, where I have 71 communities, each community will have not less than seven, or ten maximum, well-trained and fortified hunters who will be vigilant and always be on the ground 24/7," he said.

Abejide, a member of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has represented Yagba since 2019. He's currently serving his second term in the House of Representatives.