The senior lawyer said, “In the first place, we have to discuss the right and examine the propriety. It is not correct to say that Nigerians have no right to bear arms.”
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) has maintained his stand on challenging the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja’s statement regarding his disapproval of Nigerians to bear arms to protect themselves from terrorists, bandits and other criminals.
Falana in an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Wednesday said that it is incorrect to say that Nigerians have no right to bear arms, stressing that the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria guarantees self-defence.
The senior lawyer said, “In the first place, we have to discuss the right and examine the propriety. It is not correct to say that Nigerians have no right to bear arms.”
He noted that the ‘Penal Code applicable in the North and the Criminal Code applicable in the South recognise the right to self-defence”.
“In other words, if somebody aims a gun at me and I can quickly grab another gun, I have the right to shoot,” Falana said.
Asked if he meant that the law allows Nigerians to bear arms, he said, “Yes, but you are required to apply for the license.”
He noted that the right to self-defence is also guaranteed by the constitution, adding that “all I'm required to do is that I must not use a force that is not proportional to the threat.
“In other words, if you are going to hit me with a cane, I cannot go for a gun. That will not be proportional.”
Falana emphasised that proportionality is the issue, saying that under Section 33 of the Constitution which guarantees the right to life, the right to life is sacrosanct “but there are exceptions.”
According to him, “Section 33 (2) provides that somebody will not be said to have lost his right to life under the constitution if he loses his life because some force was applied while he/she was trying to kill another person or to steal my property.
“It is a capitalist society and the right to property is also sacrosanct. In other words, somebody can lose his life if he is trying to kill another citizen or trying to remove the property of another citizen, somebody can deploy force but the force must be reasonable.”
Clarifying that the law permits Nigerians to bear arms, Falana said that “under the Firearm Act, you are required to apply for a license to bear arms”.
On how one could know the proportional force another would apply at any point during a misunderstanding or attack to be able to know the kind of force to apply, Falana said that one has to look at the circumstances.
“For instance, if a gang of armed robbers took over your house, whatever force you can muster, the law allows you to deploy it because they have already surrounded your house,” he said.
He continued, “Whether you have a license or not and you can lay your hands on a gun, you can shoot and kill them. You won't be charged with murder and if you are charged with murder, you will plead self-defence.”
Asked how one could get a gun in such an instance, he said, “That is another matter. Once the law says I can defend myself by deploying force that is reasonable or proportional, I can grab it from anybody.
“But reacting to what the Chief of Army Staff said, I am saying that in Nigeria, if you meet certain conditionalities, you can apply for a license to bear arms.”
On the specific kind of firearms Nigerians can possess, Falana said the person must have a license which, according to him is why on a regular basis, “when the government discovers that many people have acquired weapons in the country, you are then told to report to the commissioner of police in that state, either to renew your license or to validate your license”.
He said that is always done “because if you have no license but you have weapons, you have committed an offence under the Firearm Act”.
According to him, “where a problem may arise is where you give a license to Mr A but deny it to Mr B who also meets the condition. Of course, you can challenge that in court for denial of license”.
He further explained that if another person wants to shoot him with an AK-47 and he can grab an AK-47, he can also shoot the person with it.
“But what is not permitted in any society is unregulated licensing of bearing arms, which is what is the major problem in the United States presently. Even mad men and women can acquire guns and start shooting people and children in school,” he said.
On the particular category of Nigerians who have the right to acquire guns, Falana said what the law said is that if one has been convicted in the last five years for certain offences, you will not be allowed to legally bear arms.
He further explained that amongst other conditions, if one is prone to anger, such a person will not be given a license and those under 17 years will also not be given a license.
“But if you meet the conditions and you are said to be responsible, you may be given a license but they will not give.
“I was talking to a senior police officer one day that I was trying to acquire a license, I have a lot of threats to my life, he said ‘no, they won't give you' and I said why, he said ‘’because the government believes that you may just fire a government official one day,'” he said.
Falana, however, stressed that whoever is given license must be a person of sound mind “but to say Nigerians have no right to bear arms is not correct”.
He said, “What is ideal, and if I understand the position of the Chief of Army Staff, I think he is opposed to unregulated licensing but for them to discourage Nigerians from applying for licenses or from acquiring weapons legally, is to have a collective approach to defend our people.
“Every citizen is entitled to his or her right to life and I have gone to court where a man was killed in 2011 in Kaduna during a riot, the widow came crying and we approached the court and the court awarded damages in our favour on the ground that the government that should have prevented the riot failed in its duty.”
He cited another case against Ghana where a 15-year-old Nigerian who did not know how to swim was made to swim by his teacher and he drowned.
“We approached the ECOWAS court and the court awarded a colossal sum of $250,000 in favour of the parents,” he said.
He stressed that the “government has a duty to defend the right to life of every citizen. Where the government fails, you are simply asking citizens to take care of themselves, which is a dangerous situation.”
He said that the challenge in Nigeria is that gun licensing is a class matter “because they give licenses to certain people. They give guns to the rich and the bourgeoisie to protect themselves and their properties, but as far as the law is concerned, what property has a poor man got? A worker who is on N30,000 a month, even if the money is paid.
“But for the rich, your life is so valued by the state and so, you are given a license to bear arms and said to have met the conditions.”
He said that what is important, even if a license is given to everybody, is that not every Nigerian can raise the money to acquire a gun.
“Therefore, we must compel the government to provide for the security of every citizen.
“It is well stated in the constitution that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of the government - Section 14,” he said.
Falana lamented that politicians arm young people, noting that it is reported all the time that political thugs have been arrested with guns.
“Where are they being tried? Nowhere! So, the volume of weapons in the country, the political class will have to be blamed for it.
“The Senate summoned the NSA and the service chiefs, to do what? To discuss the problem that you know about,” he said.
Citing the recent killings in two local government areas of Plateau state, the human rights lawyer noted that there are police stations, offices of the State Security Service, yet, such tragedy was not averted.
“They are not equipped, they are not empowered to stop violence, to gather intelligence. I'm going to challenge the National Assembly. It is not enough to summon service chiefs,” he said.
He said the Nigerian government must decide to empower the police in the country to secure the society effectively.
“Just imagine, the budget of the National Assembly was N117 billion. It has been raised to N344 billion and the President signed the budget into law. Can you say such a country cannot equip the police if it is committed to do so?”
He insisted that if the political will is mustered today, attacks and killings in the country will be stopped.
Regarding the tragic deaths in Plateau state, Falana said nobody had challenged the police and SSS on what happened and whether they were asleep when the terrorists attacked the communities and killed the people, noting that it had become a recurring incident in the state.
He pointed out the fact that in the past, the federal and state governments set up judicial panels of inquiry but their reports and recommendations were never implemented and those who were arrested were not prosecuted.
According to him, “the major problem that the federal and state governments have refused to address is the refusal of the government to establish ranches for herdsmen.
“Before President Buhari left office, he made available N6.2 billion to build ranches in Katsina alone but when I challenged other states to claim same amount of money for ranches, none of them did.”