Arewa Grassroot Leaders Assembly, AGLA, has urged the federal government to legalise the possession of AK-47s for self-defence in rural communities, with proper monitoring and regulation, following the increase in the state of insecurity across the country.
The President of the group, Collins Onogu made the call while addressing a press conference on Wednesday in Abuja.
The group also called on President Bola Tinubu to deploy more security personnel to the affected areas and establish a task force to investigate and apprehend perpetrators.
Onogu said the call became necessary following the recent wave of killings in Northern Nigeria, particularly in Plateau, Benue, Kaduna, Niger, and Zamfara states.
He lamented that the recent attacks have resulted in the loss of over 300 lives, saying it was a grim reminder of the security challenges facing the nation.
The group tasked President Bola Tinubu and security agencies to take immediate action to stop the carnage.
It stated: “We demand that the government legalise the possession of AK-47 for self-defence in rural communities, with proper monitoring and regulation.
“We urge the government to increase funding for security agencies and provide them with necessary equipment and resources.
“We propose that the government support community-led security initiatives, including community vigilante groups and neighbourhood watches.”;
When asked if legalising AK-47 would not lead to anarchy, Onogu noted that it can’t lead to anarchy because those that would influence the anarchy are already in possession of sophisticated weapons.
He was of the opinion that to ensure that the issue of insecurity was a thing of the past, there was a need for the federal government to allow the rural communities to defend themselves.
Onogu stated: “It is also a known fact that the bandits, the criminals, the terrorists, are already in possession of those arms.
“Based on our findings and what we know in the communities that they have attacked so far if all the people in those communities are also equipped with AK 47, those who come to attack them in their villages would also have casualties among them.”;
