News Editor
AS insecurity continues to grow worse across the country, a Civil Society Organisation, Adopt A Goal for Development Initiative, Thursday, accused the Governor of Katsina State, Aminu Masari of losing capacity to govern the State following call on citizens to bear arms for self defence against bandits’ attacks.
This was stated by the Executive Director, Adopt A Goal for Development Initiative, Ariyo-Dare Atoye, while speaking with Vanguard in reaction to statement of the Governor.
According to Atoye, the Governor is afraid to openly speak the truth that President Muhammadu Buhari has allegedly failed to provide Nigerians security.
He said: “But it must be said that Gov Masari has either lost the capacity to govern Katsina in line with Section 14 (2b) of the 1999 Constitution, or he is afraid of speaking the truth to President Buhari and calling for a national emergency in setting up state police.
“The need for people to bear arms comes in the last stages of multi-level security solutions to crimes, but the other steps, including State Police and Sheriffs at the local community level, have not been fully exhausted.
“It is important to tell Gov Masari that without exhausting the available opportunities to address the insecurity gaps in Katsina and other states, the call for the people to bear arms will amount to beckoning human volcanic eruptions.
“A country or state with no data of its citizens and any technological monitoring system or security surveillance system cannot start the call for everyone to be armed because even the governor will not come out of his house or office in a free-for-use gun society without the institutional capacity to monitor and prosecute violations.”
However, he (Atoye) tackled the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to respond to Governor Masari for calling on the people in his state to bear arms for self defence.
“The people will like to hear the response of Nigeria’s sectional Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, to Gov Masari’s call to the people of Katsina to bear arms and protect themselves from bandits and terrorists.
“We expect AGF Malami to also make his opinion known on the subject matter as he did when the Southwest initiated Amotekun as a stop-gap response to the rising insecurity in the region”, he said.
He further stated that, “The opinions of Lai Mohammed, Minister of information, Garba Shehu and Femi Adesina, Presidential spokespersons who had something to say about Amotekun are expected as a reaction to the pain of the people of Katsina and the helplessness of Gov Masari.”
It will be recalled that the governor backed up his call by saying that, “It’s Islamically allowed for one to defend himself against attack. One must rise to defend himself, his family and assets. If you die while trying to defend yourself, you’ll be considered a martyr. It’s surprising how a bandit would own a gun while a good man trying to defend himself and his family doesn’t have one.”
“We’ll support those who come with the initiative to procure arms because residents need to also complement the efforts of security agencies. These people (security agents) don’t have the number to protect the people. When President Buhari came, he even tried by increasing the number of our security agents but it’s inadequate. Count it yourself, how many policemen do we have in this country? How many soldiers do we have?”
Vanguard
