By Yarima Haruna
As security agencies intensify operations against Shilla gangs in Adamawa State, Bincike International is pushing a different response to the problem: get more young people into paid work.
According to the executive director of the organization Dr Elisha Bello the development organisation has launched One Delegate, a digital platform designed to connect and trained artisans with customers, arguing that the absence of income opportunities leaves some young people vulnerable to criminal recruitment.
He noted that the intervention comes against the backdrop of renewed security concerns in the Yola metropolis, where police have recently intensified operations against suspected Shilla gang members.
The police said dozens of suspects were arrested during raids on identified criminal hideouts, with investigations continuing.
Bincike’s argument is that enforcement alone cannot address the conditions that allow youth gangs to remain attractive to some young people.
The executive Director, Dr Elisha Bello, added that an internal assessment conducted by the organisation found that many youths who had received skills training remained without jobs.
He said that unemployment could leave young people exposed to criminal recruitment, particularly in communities already struggling with insecurity.
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According to Bello, the assessment identified links between the absence of decent employment opportunities and the involvement of some youths in gangs locally known as Shilla boys, as well as banditry and kidnapping.
“We are linking them with those who need their services in the state, and we plan to scale it up in other states as well,” Bello said.
The claim about the connection between unemployment and youth crime is not entirely new.
Bello stated that in 2026 study published by the Adamawa State University International Journal of Applied Economics, Finance and Management identified poverty, unemployment, drug abuse, weak parental supervision and school dropout among factors associated with Shilla activities in Yola North. The study also recommended employment opportunities and skills centres as part of the response.
What Bincike is attempting with OneDelegate is to build a marketplace around that idea.
Saying rather than simply training another group of young people, the organisation wants to create a system through which those who already have skills can find customers.
The platform connects service providers offering plumbing, electrical repairs, carpentry, gas supply and waste disposal with residents seeking those services.
The organisation’s Director of Innovation and Strategy, Jimuruna Leonard, said the platform was created after Bincike identified what he described as a persistent gap between skills training and actual income.
“It’s going to address a lot of unemployment, and there are a lot of NGOs also that are training persons, but there is no way to deploy those skills and generate income. So this goes a long way in addressing unemployment,” Leonard said.
He pointed out that the model is built around the concept to push for practical implementation, he said .
Artisans are registered after verification and can then receive service requests through the platform. Customers can track providers and review them after jobs are completed, while artisans can also review customers.
He added that two-way system is intended to address one of the biggest problems in informal service transactions: trust.
A customer needs confidence that the person entering their home can actually do the job. The artisan, meanwhile, needs confidence that completing the job will result in payment he stressed.
Bincike said OneDelegate will use an escrow-style payment system under which customers fund a wallet and release payment after the job is completed.
For selected services, customers can also pay upon arrival.
He pointed out that the organisation is also working towards designated prices for gas purchases to reduce disputes over negotiations between customers and delivery agents.
Stressing that gas distribution is expected to operate through partnerships with gas companies and trained agents.
Bincike said agents who move specified volumes of gas could receive discounts instead of conventional transport costs.
The organisation said it would not manufacture equipment such as protective gas-cylinder racks itself. Designs would instead be handed to private manufacturing partners, while OneDelegate concentrates on connecting agents with customers.
According to The Gazette News Nigeria, the platform’s first phase is focused on Yola because Bincike’s research identified metropolitan areas as having stronger demand for the services.
The organisation intends to expand across Adamawa and later into other parts of Nigeria.
But the security argument behind the platform will ultimately be tested by something more measurable than the number of people registered.
It will have to demonstrate that young people are actually getting jobs and earning income.
That is particularly important because an app cannot create employment simply by listing unemployed people.
There must be customers.
There must be transactions.
And there must be enough repeat business for artisans to regard the platform as a dependable source of livelihood.
Bincike appears to recognise the challenge.
It plans to introduce a USSD option for people without smartphones or reliable internet access.
The organisation also plans OneDelegate Hop, a call-in service through which residents without access to the application can request services by telephone.
Requests would then be relayed to registered service providers operating in the relevant communities.
GPS tracking is also expected to help extend the platform beyond the Yola metropolis.
That rural component could prove crucial.
A digital employment intervention that works only for smartphone users in urban centres would leave out many of the communities where economic opportunities are already limited.
Bincike is also attempting to connect OneDelegate with existing skills-development programmes.
The organisation said groups already training young people could bring their trainees for certification and registration on the platform without paying registration fees to encourage people to partake .
The organisations would remain responsible for the logistics of their training programmes.
The idea is to change what happens after graduation.
Instead of a young person receiving a certificate and returning home to search for customers independently, the training organisation could potentially feed the graduate directly into a marketplace.
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