The Nigerian government has ruled out the plea by some people for the citizens to be allowed to bear arms in the face of escalating insecurity in Africa’s most populous nation.
The government’s position was made known by the Minister of Police Affairs, Dr. Muhammad Dingyadi, who spoke with journalists in Abuja.
A recent attack by bandits on an Abuja-Kaduna train that resulted in the death of at least eight people, with several wounded and over 150 kidnapped, has led to renewed demand by Nigerians to be allowed to bear arms for self defence.
Nigeria is currently witnessing its worst peace-time insecurity, with bandits, and terrorists taking over highways, communities, and farms, where they kidnap people for ransom.
Dingyadi said the government wants to reduce the firearms in circulation in the country.
“Personally and officially, I will say no to everyone to carry arms. I do not support the idea of everybody carrying arms. And if you check the situation we are in now, it is so bad that we should do whatever we can to control arms carrying and to ensure that we do not allow it to escalate.
“We need to do all we can to ensure that we minimize the circulation of firearms in this country. We should restrict this to people who are supposed to carry arms, people who are trained to use them, and people who have license to use them. If you make it for the use of everyone, it will worsen the situation.
“We need intelligence to guide our operations and officers. That is why we are having drones to assist in our intelligence. We also need the support of the general public. We are improving in our intelligence. This development is of serious concern to us and every Nigerian. People are just counting the civilian casualties, they are not counting the casualties that are coming out from security agencies which are usually also enormous.
“By the time you kill one or two policemen, you do not know how many morals you have dampened. It is very important we try to ensure that we protect the lives of our men who are on duty at several locations across the country. It is only the police that are everywhere in this country. They are in every village in this country and that is why we are having casualties everywhere.
“We are showing the highest level of concern to ensure that these things are brought to the barest minimum and this we are doing through the improvement of operation equipment. If you are well kitted and you are well armed you will stand a better chance of surviving any attack.”
