He insisted it was totally unacceptable to allow criminals to bear arms and use the same to attack and kill unarmed citizens.
Governor of Katsina State, Aminu Bello Masari has reiterated the call for citizens to be allowed to bear arms in self-defence as part of measures to curb the spate of insecurity, especially in the North-West part of the country.
Masari, who is also the Chairman of the North-West Governors’ Forum, disclosed this on Thursday when he led some of his colleagues in the region on a condolence visit to the Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.
He insisted it was totally unacceptable to allow criminals to bear arms and use the same to attack and kill unarmed citizens.
The governor argued that dealing with insecurity had nothing to do with religion or ethnic groups, adding that, “We need an unusual approach to deal with these people, who are nothing but animals terrorising our people across the country.”
Masari also called for collective efforts by both the leaders and citizens to take ownership of all their forests across the country from bandits and other criminals.
His Kano State counterpart, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, described reserved forests, especially in the northern part of the country as home to criminals.
He said the call for the reclaiming of the forest was now or never, adding, “It is no more issue of farming or hunting in our forest but for us to take full ownership of the forest.”
Tambuwal, while responding, commended the governors and their entourage for finding time to visit the state at this time.
He described bandits killing people as criminals with no ideology but targeting anyone irrespective of religion or political affiliations.