As the precarious security situation across Nigeria worsens, leaving defenceless citizens feeling more unsafe, showing the utter failure of the Nigerian authorities to protect lives and properties, the country’s Army chief has argued that allowing citizens to carry arms will lead to “anarchy.”
After dozens of his people were killed and scores left homeless in a series of “well-coordinated” attacks between December 23 and 28, Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State urged residents to take up arms and defend themselves.
Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, disagrees.
“I do not support that. I think that is a call for anarchy. When you have a situation where people freely carry and use arms, then it becomes a lawless state,” General Lagbaja said in a televised media interview on Dec. 31.
He also refuted citizen complaints that the military is failing to defend communities. “The Nigerian army is the people’s army. It is organized. Funded with the people’s money to protect lives and property,” the Army chief added.
—Ezinwanne Onwuka reports for TruthNigeria from Abuja.
Has Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja even taken a look at the history of the United Sates regarding firearms ownership and the ability to protect ones self?