Terrorists: Akeredolu Backs Zamfara Govt On Self-Defense Policy, Says State Police Only Solution

…Wants FG To Grant Licenses To Security Outfits In States To Bear Sophisticated Firearms

By Daniel Dafe

Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN of Ondo State has said that “the press statement released by the Ministry of Information of the Zamfara State Government on the need for citizens to arm themselves for self-defense, among others, confirms the pervasive loss of confidence in the current security arrangement the Country.”

The governor who said this in a statement signed by DR DOYIN ODEBOWALE, SSA, SPECIAL DUTIES & STRATEGY, ONDO STATE GOVERNMENT, added that “it signals a situation of near- capitulation on the part of the security agencies centrally controlled by the Federal Government,” saying that “it portends great danger for the polity.”

According to him, “it is a sad commentary on the increasing inability and impotence of the Zamfara State Government, and other States, to protect their citizens in the wake of relentless and mindless assaults by terrorists and bandits.”

Continuing, he said that “it suggests a total lack of trust between that State Government and Federal Government on one hand, and the helpless and hopeless situation in which the people have found themselves concerning the security of lives, on the other.”

ALSO READ: Shaibu Visits Community Of Murdered Catholic Priest, Condemns Killing

He continued: “The stark reality confronting the people of Zamfara leaves the Government with no esoteric option than to lean heavily on the current arrangement.

“The Government and the people of Zamfara State have been pushed to the wall. The feeling of despondency is pervasive in the land. We must, however, advise caution.”

Furthermore, he said that “the directive of the State Governor to the Commissioner of Police to issue licenses to qualified citizens to bear arms in the defense of their immediate environments and the State in general is commendable,” just DA he said that “the NSA and Inspector General of Police may have to issue license to possess a certain category of arms.”

He noted that “no such licenses have been issued to individuals since 2007 while those which existed had been revoked,” adding that the directive “though attractive and compelling in the current circumstances, may be stifled by existing federal arrangement.”

“The Governor of Ondo State, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, commends the boldness of his brother Governor, Bello Matawalle, in his bid to confront the security challenges in his State, adopting a pragmatic approach. The Governor notes, with great concern, the continued refusal by the Federal Government to grant licenses to security outfits, run by some States, to bear sophisticated firearms capable of restraining, effectively, acts of criminality and brazen impunity with commensurate responses.

“The deliberate policy of the Federal Government to deny exigent regional security outfits of the rights to bear firearms, when it is evident that the security agencies in the country are overwhelmed and distracted by centrifugal forces, is a major factor, among many, exacerbating the current security challenges in the country. A federal system of government cannot be administered as if the country is a unitary colony, controlled, rigidly, at the centre, while the constituent units are treated as mere outposts.

“This fact, coupled with the logic of divergence and rapid growth in population, imposes no other practicable measure on the managers of this country, including our legislators, than to accept the inevitability of the establishment of a State Police,” the statement said.