Is Arming Citizens Solution to Katsina’s Security Woes?

Francis Sardauna writes that the procurement of firearms and distribution to constituents for self-defence by the member representing Funtua constituency at the Katsina State House of Assembly, Hon. Abubakar Muhammad, may have contravened the Nigerian Firearms Act and the 2019 Executive Order.

Worried by the spate of killings and abductions orchestrated by bandits in his constituency, the member representing Funtua at the Katsina State House of Assembly, Hon. Abubakar Muhammad, recently purchased 60 firearms and distributed them to his constituents to fight the marauding hoodlums.

In a now viral video, the lawmaker and personnel of the state-owned security outfit, Community Watch Corps, and the hitherto weaponless tax payers, were seen in an arms drill to enable them to defend themselves against bandits’ attacks and other criminal elements in the region.

The procurement and distribution of the first batch of the locally-made firearms to the constituents in six out of the 11 political wards of the constituency, according to the lawmaker, is to ameliorate the insecurity and serve as a veritable tool for self-defence in the wave of the current insecurity bedeviling the area and other parts of the state.

He argued that with bandits carrying unlicensed sophisticated weapons everywhere there was an urgent need for his constituents to use the firearms for self-defence instead of “stones and cutlasses” to confront criminals with AK-47 rifles.

Muhammad, who is fondly called Total, believes that arming his constituents would combat the high rate of insecurity and improve security in the region, saying the procured firearms were within the purview of the law.

He explained that the procurement of the firearms, which are under the watch of the Katsina Community Watch Corps, was in response to persistent bandits’ attacks in some communities of the constituency.

According to him, the armed constituents would complement the operations of conventional security agencies in tackling the nefarious activities of bandits and other criminals in the constituency.

In a recent interview with some journalists, Muhammad said: “My constituents pleaded with me to buy firearms for them to defend themselves, and I promised to get them firearms that are allowed by law for civilians to make use of them.

“That was the reason why I purchased the firearms and ammunition and handed them over to those who are trusted by members of their communities. I connected them with personnel of the Katsina Community Watch Corps.

“We trained them on how to use firearms and the dangers associated with the weapons. They will be operating under the guidance and leadership of the Community Watch Corps. These firearms will assist in addressing insecurity in my constituency.”

But Muhammad’s argument for the necessity of allowing residents to bear arms for self-defence due to the prevailing security challenges in his constituency and other parts of Katsina state is just a policy debate, not a current legal reality in the country.

While self-defence is a recognised need due to the spate of insecurity in the state, the country’s legal framework does not broadly permit the lawmaker and other Nigerian citizens to purchase and carry arms.

Therefore, his action contravened the nation’s Firearms Act, which regulates the possession and use of firearms. It stipulates that no person shall possess a firearm without the licence granted by the Inspector-General of Police, who operates under principles decided by the president of the country.

To epitomize it all, a legal practitioner, Omale Ajonye argued that under the Firearms Act, every Nigerian could only own a firearm with permission or license from the president, Assistant Inspector General (AIG) and Commissioner of Police of every state of the federation.

Ajonye’s position is clearly outlined in Part II, Sections 5,6 and 7 of the Firearms Act, but investigation revealed that Hon. Abubakar Muhammad did not fulfil the conditions for acquiring the firearms before obtaining them for his constituents for self-defence.

“He (Muhammed) was not properly guided on the Nigerian Firearms Act because he acquired the firearms without police license or approval. What he did is against the law and unconstitutional”, a credible security source said.

He expressed the fear that if residents of the state are allowed to take up arms in self-defence, they are being asked to simply go on a killing spree through a mechanism, which lacks the instrumentality of the law.

Muhammad’s firearms procurement and distribution is also a gross violation of an Executive Order signed by the former President of the country, late Muhammadu Buhari on May 22, 2019, which revoked and banished all firearms certificates and licenses issuance throughout the country.

With effect from June 1, 2019, the presidential order barred the lawmaker and other Nigerians from even seeking for licenses from the police or any other authority to acquire firearms for self-defence or other purposes.

Although the order attracted widespread condemnations from Nigerians, especially among the elite across the country, the erstwhile president refused to revoke it as demanded by some members of the federal parliament.

However, Hon. Muhammad and other proponents of gun bearing argued that Buhari’s executive order which was described by the Supreme Court as illegal and superfluous, is no longer acceptable to Nigerians because the nation’s security personnel are overstretched due to the high level of insecurity.

Consequently, they urged governors of the frontline states to purchase arms for their regional security outfits, including training and retraining of vigilantes, citizens and hunters on self-defence mechanisms to protect lives and properties in their respective territories.

One of the proponents of gun bearing, Usman Ibrahim Kankara said: “The prevailing insecurity has made it imperative for the current Nigeria’s President to licence even military-grade weapons to citizens and communities for self-defence.

“There are many assault firearms in the hands of bandits and criminal elements and so it would be appropriate for the President to exercise the discretion of granting licences of weapons to individuals and groups for defence.”

For Surajo Bako, a resident of Karfi, “If we have adequate security in place, the people will not need to go for self-defence, but where there is none, nobody should die anyhow. Nobody should be a prisoner of bandits in his or her own territory.

“We need guns to protect our lives and properties—It is a natural reaction for every human being that if you are attacked—you have to defend yourself.”

While the Funtua state constituency lawmaker armed his constituents for self-defence in the face of wobbling insecurity, analysts are arguing that it is a dangerous preposition that will push the state over the cliff.

According to them, the security challenges besetting the state will descend into dishevelment and more bloodletting if all residents are allowed to bear arms, in the name of self-defence.

They further argued that arming citizens for self-defence will inevitably lead to uncontrolled proliferation of firearms across the state considering the porous nature of the state’s land borders with Niger Republic.

Besides, is arming citizens really a solution to Katsina’s security woes or challenges? No, because the consequences of arming untrained civilians could be catastrophic; it could lead to ethnic militias, revenge killings and a complete breakdown of law and order in the state.

As constituents await Hon. Muhammad’s second batch of firearms, his spontaneous exposure of  law-abiding citizens to small firearms to fight blood-thirsty and heavily-armed bandits is the peak of crime against humanity and may increase the interest of civilians to acquire more sophisticated firearms.

Morealso, if fighting bandits seems laborious to the security agencies that are vested with the requisite structure to eliminate them, then what can a naive citizen bearing a primitive firearm achieve? The outcome will certainly be in favour of the criminals.

The continued involvement of citizens in the self-policing will also be a foremost cause of increase in fabrications and importation of more different types of firearms into the state.

Rather than encouraging people to arm themselves, Hon Muhammad, the state and federal governments should focus on fixing the root causes of banditry such as poverty, unemployment, marginalisation, corruption, competition for scarce resources and systemic problems in our security architecture.

The bandits terrorising farming communities in the state are not as powerful as the nation’s security agencies, but lack of proper coordination by security chiefs and political will are also undermining factors that must be tackled for peace and development to thrive in the state.

To Hon. Muhammad, self-defence might seem like the only option left for residents of the state who are mostly compelled to obey anarchistic orders, but it’s a dangerous proposition that could push Katsina over the cliff.