Ayo Arise, former senator and All Progressives Congress
(APC) chieftain, says the federal government should allow citizens to bear
arms.
Arise said this on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television
Programme, on Tuesday.
He said this against the backdrop of the recent report by
the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC),
which said out of 500 million illegal weapons circulating in West Africa, 350
million which represent 70 percent, are domiciled in Nigeria.
The former chairman senate committee on privatisation also
said no amount of police protection can ensure Nigerians’ safety. He said the
security challenges can be curbed if citizens are allowed to bear arms.
“When you look at the question of ammunition, 350 million;
where do we start from, we have such porous borders; people can come in from
anywhere, and of course there have been agitations. I am one of those who think
that Nigeria should allow people to bear arms,” he said.
“Because when others have ammunition, and you are totally
helpless, they go on a rampage. For example, if these bandits realise that you
might be carrying arms, you will see that there will be mutually assured
destruction. And it is going to be a way of deterrent.
“The question is that if you fortify the police stations,
how many policemen do you want to distribute around to guard every Nigerian.
That is why I am advocating for Nigerians to bear arms. The situation can be
tempered down a little bit.”
On February 2021, Uba Sani, senator representing Kaduna
central, sponsored a bill seeking to impose stiffer penalties on those bearing
illegal firearms as a result of the rising security challenges in the country.
A public hearing was held by the senate on April 19 to look
into the amendment of the Firearms Act 2004 and Exclusive Economic Zones Act
2010.
At the public hearing, Opeyemi Bamidele, chairman of the
senate committee on judiciary, human rights and legal matters, said the purpose
of the proposed amendments to the two bills is to further strengthen “our
extant laws against illegal firearms possession and proliferation as well as
making provisions of the Act on Exclusive Economic Zone to be in line with
global practices as far as protection of the nation’s territorial sea or waters
are concerned”.
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