For the second time in four years, former minister of Defence, General Theophilus Danjuma (rtd) recently admonished the citizens to quit agonising over the activities of gunmen and seek ways of defending themselves. The retired Chief of Army Staff went further to ask the people to look for ways to source their arms like the bandits and terrorists.
We recall that Danjuma had in 2018 made a similar call, asking Nigerians to take up arms and defend themselves since their safety is not guaranteed under the existing state security arrangement. Since then, there have been similar calls by the governors of Katsina, Zamfara, Benue, and Taraba states.
Curiously, in our view, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), in their reaction warned that the law prohibiting the possession of firearms of any kind is still in place. The police further said that licences are not being issued and all firearms in circulation are to be returned to the closest police facility for safekeeping.
In our considered opinion, this reminder by the Police is begging the question. They should start by disarming the bandits and especially the herdsmen who carry their arms openly even before state security operatives. No doubt, the worsening killings by bandits and terrorists triggered the calls by General Danjuma and some governors for the citizens to defend themselves.
According to a report from the Nigerian Security Tracker, a project of the Council on Foreign Relations of the United States of America, about 53,418 Nigerians lost their lives to non-state actors between May 29, 2015, and October 15, 2022. The deaths occurred mostly from farmers’/herders’ conflict, clashes by religious groups, and attacks by terrorists and bandits.
A breakdown of the killings by geo-political zones showed that the South-West region recorded no fewer than 2,170 deaths in the period under review with Ekiti having 109; Ondo, 340; Osun, 198; Ogun, 507; Oyo, 310; and Lagos, 706.
A total of 3,688 deaths were recorded in the South-South region with Akwa Ibom State having 373; Bayelsa, 350; Cross River, 685; Delta, 720; Edo, 463; and Rivers, 1,097. In the South-East region, Abia recorded 249 killings; Anambra, 613; Ebonyi, 562; Enugu, 273; and Imo, 574, thus making a total of 2,271.
The North-Central zone, including the Federal Capital Territory, recorded a total of 8,593 deaths with Benue topping the list with 2,771; Niger, 2,572; Plateau, 1,709; Kogi, 654; Nasarawa, 320; FCT, 317; and Kwara, 250. The North-East zone, which is the epicenter of Boko Haram and ISWAP insurgency, recorded the highest number of deaths in the period under review with a total of 23,106. Borno state recorded 18,213 deaths; Adamawa 1,853; Yobe, 1,375; Taraba, 1,335; Bauchi, 169; and Gombe 161.
In the northwest, a total of 13,590 persons have so far been killed, with 2,037 deaths in Katsina, Zamfara with 5,6164 deaths; Sokoto, 872; Kaduna, 530; Kebbi, 331; Kano, 149; and Jigawa, 55.
It is instructive to point out that, in a country not technically at war, these are frightening statistics. However, in the considered opinion of this newspaper, resorting to self-defence will further exacerbate the already bad situation.
Regrettably, in a country where elections can best be described as theatres of war, arms in more people’s hands in Nigeria will turn the elections into a full-scale bloodbath. We cannot afford to take that risk. The worsening insecurity in the country has been attributed to the proliferation of small and light arms in the country. According to a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report, there are over eight million illicit small and light arms in west Africa.
This newspaper strongly believes there is a nexus between the proliferation of weapons in the country and insecurity. Indeed, in advanced countries like the United States, the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gives Americans the right to bear arms, and three-in-ten American adults personally own a gun.
However according to reports, gun violence – from big-city murders to mass shootings – has spurred debate in Congress and state legislatures over proposals to limit Americans’ access to firearms. Counting murders and suicides, nearly 40,000 people died of gun-related violence in the United States in 2017, the highest annual total in decades.
Besides, if advanced countries like the United States can have so many casualties because of arms in so many people’s hands, what will happen in a developing country like Nigeria already plagued by security challenges? It is from this perspective, that we call on the federal government to reject this call as in our opinion, it is an open invitation to anarchy.
Having said this, it is pertinent to put General Danjuma’s apprehension in perspective. He is by no means an anarchist. His call should be properly understood. The war-tested General is frustrated that in a situation where the state looks the other way while hapless citizens are slaughtered in their numbers, the need for self-protection by whatever means becomes urgent if not imperative.
