Allow Nigerians Bear Arms To Defend Themselves, Sagay Tells Buhari

Professor Itse Sagay (SAN), Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), has advised President Muhammadu Buhari and Inspec­tor General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to allow ordinary Nigerians to bear firearms to protect themselves.

According to Daily Independent, Sagay said the government was overwhelmed by various security challenges such as Boko Haram insurgency, banditry, kidnapping, herdsmen at­tacks, etc. So it has become necessary for it to allow Nigerians to carry arms to defend themselves when attacked.

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He added that the unpro­voked attacks, especially on villages by bandits, will drasti­cally reduce in the country if the communities are allowed to arm themselves with weap­ons to defend themselves.

He said, "The country has become so dangerous. All sorts of things are happening nowa­days. You have kidnappers, bandits, Fulani herdsmen, Boko Haram. The reality is that there is nowhere that is safe in the country. Travelling by road today is a very risky endeavour that one will hard­ly try. So, there is a total insecu­rity in the country.

"I don't know what has gone wrong, why our people have become so violent and savage. Individuals no lon­ger feel safe outside their own house. I am not even sure that one is safe in his own home.

"What I will like to suggest to the government is that it should allow ordinary Nigeri­ans to carry arms. Everybody who wants to bear arms as a form of self-defence should be allowed to do so. This is necessary so that when these bandits and miscreants attack them, they will know that the person they attacked can defend himself.

"All these restrictions on owning weapons should be lifted. Let the public be allowed to own weapons, especially in all those villages where they are being massacred. Their men should be given weapons so that when the attackers come, they will also be given a chal­lenge which may discourage them in future."