Chuks Okocha in Abuja
Following the massacre of over 200 persons on Christmas Eve in Plateau State, security expert and former Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mr. Mike Ejiofor, has called for the liberalisation of gun ownership laws in Nigeria to enable citizens to protect themselves.
Ejiofor, who is President of the National Institute of Security Studies, said legalising the carrying of arms by Nigerians will not cause anarchy in the country as many believed.
The former DSS chief, who disclosed this in an interview with ARISE PRIMETIME on Thursday, said the government should encourage the citizens to defend themselves, given the increasing cases of insecurity across the country.
He insisted that he had mentioned in a conference some years ago that there is a need to liberalise the carrying of arms for Nigerians, and he still maintains the position to this day.
“The argument that if you allow Nigerians to carry arms, it will be abused, I agree. There is tendency for abuse, but we should not also…the primary purpose of government is welfare and security of the people as provided for and enshrined in our constitution. But where daily, especially in Benue and Plateau, hundreds of people are killed, no account is given, I don’t think it’s proper.
“Why don’t we liberalise this issue of carrying of firearms so that if you are coming to my house, you know I’m also armed. But these people act with impunity, they act with all kinds of things because they know people are not armed. I don’t believe that it’s going to bring any anarchy,” Ejiofor said.
Commenting on what the Chief of Army Staff said that it will lead to anarchy, Ejiofor said, “I don’t think so. We are already a state of anarchy. We are already there. People cannot go about their normal duties. And travelling now comes with problems. I don’t think we should go beyond that, government should encourage people to protect themselves.”
According to him, a research in 2020 had disclosed that Nigeria had a record of 6.1 million illegal arms in the hands of civilians, revealing that three out of every 100 Nigerians have firearms.
On why the killings continue, he said, “The political elites in Nigeria are the people causing this problem, and they have these illegal arms which they use in conducting elections. At the end of the elections, they keep it for another election.
“Now, you are talking of people in rural areas, Bokkos for instance. How will they have that kind of arms? And if they have such access to arms, they will not be killed in hundreds, there will be resistance,” he stressed.
He maintained that there are regulations in place as to people who can be certified to bear arms, saying, “The person bearing arms must be sane, must be somebody who is not mental. And we will need to subject these people to mental examination to be certified that they are not hot tempered.”
He further said, “The area of sanity is always determined by medical practitioners. So, you need to look at their mental state, look at the temperament before you issue such arms. And in fact, you can see people brandishing illegal arms in public places, in functions, and openly shooting guns and nothing is being done. So, what is left then to legalise this carrying of arms? So, if you come to my house, you will feel challenged because you will feel that I also have my own arms in my house.”
To address security issues in Nigeria, he advocated for state police. “We’re talking of establishment of state police.” While responding to the arguments that state police will be abused, he said, “Is the Nigerian police not being abused?”
On lack of manpower in the police force and how police officers were being assigned to protect VIPs rather than ramp up national security, Ejiofor said, “The other day, we talked about withdrawing the IG. Every IG comes up and says they will withdraw. We don’t have enough manpower for the police to tackle the challenges. If the military goes ahead to bombard some of these agents, it is the responsibility of the police to take over control and hold on to that place, but we don’t have personnel to take charge of it, they’re protecting individuals.
“Let them withdraw all these people, and the National assembly members who are supposed to make laws will take our security seriously when they are protected.”
