Insecurity: Buy guns, defend yourselves, Nigerian governor tells residents

<p>The Katsina State Governor&comma; Aminu Masari&comma; has called on residents of the state to arm themselves and confront bandits because security officials alone cannot tackle insecurity in the state&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Katsina&comma; like other North-west states of Zamfara&comma; Kaduna&comma; Sokoto and Kebbi&comma; has witnessed incessant attacks by terror groups&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Hundreds of people have been killed or kidnapped in Katsina this year with thousands more displaced from their homes&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Speaking during a media parley with journalists at the Muhammadu Buhari House in Katsina&comma; Mr Masari said the number of security personnel is not enough to tackle the situation&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;It’s Islamically allowed for one to defend himself against attack&period; One must rise to defend himself&comma; his family and assets&period; If you die while trying to defend yourself&comma; you’ll be considered a martyr&period; It’s surprising how a bandit would own a gun while a good man trying to defend himself and his family doesn’t have one&comma;”<&sol;strong> <&sol;em>the governor said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Mr Masari said the state government would help those who plan to own arms with the view to help bring an end to banditry&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We’ll support those who come with the initiative to procure arms because residents need to also complement the efforts of security agencies&period; These people &lpar;security agents&rpar; don’t have the number to protect the people&period; When President Buhari came&comma; he even tried by increasing the number of our security agents but it’s inadequate&period; Count it yourself&comma; how many policemen do we have in this country&quest; How many soldiers do we have&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Even if we say every policeman should go back to his home state&comma; it’ll still not be enough&period; So&comma; if we fold arms and decide to do nothing&comma; we’ll be the ones to suffer most&comma;”<&sol;strong><&sol;em> he lamented&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Mr Masari said the police would register all guns bought by the residents to ensure they are put to the right use&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;