Right to keep and Bear Arms in Nigeria; it is time to Demand!
By Oludare Ogunlana
The security situation in Nigeria is deteriorating everyday. Armed robbers are now fully in control. Hire assassins and political thugs snuffs lives from people each day. Militancy has become a profession in the Niger-Delta region with kidnapping as a new way of survival by the gangsters. Police are helpless in the face of the superior fire power of the armed robbers. While all the senior offices have turned politicians sharing our national cake, the junior men of the police have turned to be real “terrorist” on the roads. It is either you “roger” with money or get killed instantly. The crime has become a national problem and its control should be primary responsibility of the Federal Government. It seems our government has lost control and fails woefully in preventing, or deals effectively with crime. The negative consequences are numerous ranging from tearing of the fabrics of our social relations and living patterns. With the current waves of crime in Nigeria, it is reasonable for every Nigerian to demand for a right to keep and bear arm for their personal protection.
The recent crisis in Plateu State consumed lives of two young youth Corpers in Jos. They were actually slaughtered by political thugs hiding under the ethno-religious influence. The life of those promising young guys of which government never contributed a kobo to their education got terminated while serving their fatherland. There were no policemen to help, no SSS or any law enforcements agents to rescue them for more than four hours even when police was contacted about their imminent attacked. I am very sure that they would have been able to put up a reasonable fight to protect themselves from been killed if our constitution allows them to bear and keep arms for their self defense.
In a latest report, a divisional police officer, DPO was gunned down by the people of the underworld in Abeokuta, Ogun State. The Nigerian police have lost all the respect to the extent that the armed robbers are now taking the fight to their door steps everyday. A police stationed was invaded last week in Lagos by armed robbers. What is expected from police service that cannot protect herself? The “boys” have mastered very well the art of hijacking bullion vans, robbing banks and carting away millions of naira in “one-go” operation. The police boss, Mr Mike Okiro is helpless and seems to have no clue on what to do to overcome the challenges, but rather shifted the bulks of the blame of bank robbery on the banking institutions. It has gone bad for police in Nigeria to the extent that people have more confidence in local vigilante group like OPC than our trained uniform men. Churches now engaged services of men of OPC with potent “Juju” to protect the churches, pastors and their family members.
As Nigerians groans under the pain of poverty as well as living under the fear of terror of armed robbery attacks with guns each day, and political robbers that loots our treasury everyday in Abuja, it seems there is no hope in sight. Instead of police to protect the citizen, all the police in Nigeria has been shared among the political office holders guiding them, their children, wives and even their mistresses. It was reported at a point that a popular semi educated politician in the Anambra State that led the kidnapping attempt on former Gov. Ngige has three trucks of fully armed mobile policemen guiding him. Whereas, ordinary people have no police to call when they are face with dangers of the men of the underworld.
There was an assassination attempt on a former minister last year in Ogun State, he made a distressed call to police but police never arrived for over two hours. It took the courage and bravery of his bodyguards and local vigilante to dislodge the assassins with their personal weapons. The man escaped miraculously; otherwise, he would have been slaughtered like they did to Cicero of Esa Oke, Late Chief Bola Ige in 2001. May be, Chief Bola Ige would have been able to put up some fight if he had gun in his house.
The PDP government has spent so much money arming police force in the last nine years, but not for anything but for political terrorism. The arms bought for police with tax payer’s money were used to rigged election in the year 2003 and 2007 respectively. All the AK-47s purchased for police are daily used to intimidate innocent citizens. Some unscrupulous junior and senior police officers, we learnt even leases their guns to armed robbers in exchange for money. There are cases of accidental discharge from police everyday. Many drivers have been killed by policemen because of twenty naira bribe on our motor ways. In fact, the weapons in police armory have killed more of innocent citizens they are meant to protect than criminals.
The late Garrison Commander of PDP, Alh Lamidi Adedibu ruled Oyo State with iron fist. He was a political terrorist who believes in violence as one of the way of achieving political success. The last election of 2007 was the peak of his barbarism in Oyo State. He has all his political thugs that maimed and kill opposition members at will. They openly displayed and used their weapons unchallenged because the masses have no weapons to stop them. Hundred of innocent people were murdered; thousand were injured before Mr. Alao Akala was forcefully rigged in as illegal Governor of Oyo State in April 2007. He escaped justice before he died simply because he got the blessing of the powers that be in the Aso Rock. However, the bloods of innocent citizens cold-bloodedly murdered are daily crying for revenge.
Of course, it is a common knowledge that every oppressive government like what we have in Nigeria will never allowed her citizen to bear or keep arms. They know it will be difficult for them to rig election in front of your house and use police to terrorize you with the notion that you also bear arms and know how to handle them. However, “the reality is that people will not be educated until they are free” (Carlo Pisacane). Some may say that Nigeria is not yet mature for the purpose, but the fact is that the whole world will not wait for Nigeria to be matured before they move on. It is high time for every Nigerian to demands for a right to bear and keep arms, and not only for hunting game but for personal defense against armed robbers and political criminals.
Oludare Ogunlana is former NANS President and writes from Baltimore, Maryland, USA
