Zangbeto

ZANGBETỌ Traditional guards of the night, the Zangbetọ is the indigenous police and security institutions among the Ogu people of Nigeria and other West African countries. As cultural “night-watchmen” fulfilling critical responsibilities of local vigilantism and community policing, the Zangbeto cult offers the vision of Another Nigeria where the present menaces of insecurity and civil unrest would be things of the past. That New Nigeria is one where the safety and security of everyone, everything and everywhere is ensured through a grassroots, bottom-up approach to policing and law enforcement. Recognising that criminals and lawless people often prefer to operate under the cover of darkness, the Ogu societies instituted the Zangbetọ as the fervent torch to blow their cover and smoke them out. This prefigures the country we must all commit to building, where crime and evil will find no hiding place.

Uploaded on 24 October 2025.