The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has strongly criticized the federal government for what it describes as a persistent failure to protect the lives of Nigerian citizens, a fundamental constitutional duty.
In response, the rights group has urgently called on President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly to enact a national law that would liberalize the processes for law-abiding adults of sound mental health to legally possess AK-47/49 rifles for the purpose of self-defense.
In a statement released on Wednesday, HURIWA asserted that “it is self-evident that successive federal administrations from that of the late Umaru Musa Yar’adua up until the Bola Ahmed Tinubu incompetent administrations, there has been abysmal and institutional failures of the armed forces and police to prevent the extralegal executions of citizens which have assumed an industrial scale currently.”
The organization argued that “since this failures of the security infrastructures and it is clear that the president lacks the political will to take steps to protect Nigerians from freelance armed non-state actors unleashing devastating terrorism on an industrial scale on unarmed citizens, the most logical way to end these cocktails of insanity and incompetence, is to permit citizens to bear arms for self defence.”
HURIWA referenced Chapter 4, Section 33 of the Nigerian Constitution, which guarantees the Right to Life, stating that while the constitution prohibits intentional deprivation of life, it also acknowledges exceptions for self-defense.
Specifically, Section 33(2)(a) states that a person shall not be regarded as having been deprived of life in contravention of the section if they die as a result of the use of reasonably necessary force “for the defence of any person from unlawful violence or for the defence of property.”
The rights group highlighted the recent Monday’s gunmen attack on Zike and Kimakpa communities in Plateau State’s Bassa Local Government Area, which reportedly claimed 51 lives, as a stark example of the government’s failure.
HURIWA pointed out the concerning proximity of these communities to the 3 Division Headquarters of the Nigerian Army.
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This attack occurred less than two weeks after similar armed assaults on multiple villages in the Bokkos area of Plateau State, resulting in the deaths of 52 people.
HURIWA noted that these affected communities are also located within a five-kilometer radius of a military base.
Residents of the attacked communities have reportedly expressed their frustration and questioned the lack of timely security response, wondering why military personnel stationed nearby did not intervene to prevent or minimize the casualties and destruction.
One anonymous resident stated, “The fact that the attacks occurred without immediate intervention from the nearby military base has raised questions about the effectiveness of security measures in the area. Given the close proximity of the communities to the military base, it would be expected that security forces could respond quickly to such incidents.”
In a statement signed by the National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA argued that “since the military and the security forces have failed to protect the lives of the citizens, the most logical solution is for the government to ease up the process of applying and obtaining gun license so citizens can now bear sophisticated weapons since terrorists, bandits and kidnappers carry these sophisticated weapons s freely.”
Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, National Coordinator of HURIWA, concluded by reiterating the urgency of the situation and the need for the government to empower law-abiding citizens to defend themselves in the face of perceived security failures.