A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has criticised the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Taoreed Lagbaja’s statement where he sounded his disapproval for citizens to bear arms, following coordinated attacks by gunmen on Plateau State during the Yuletide.
“I do not support that. I think that is a call for anarchy,” the army chief said on Sunday on Channels Television’s end-of-year programme ‘2023: Year of Transition.’
Apparently responding to Lagbaja’s statement on Wednesday, while featuring on Sunrise Breakfast show, Falana contended that “in the first place, it is not correct to say Nigerians have no right to bear arms, Apart from the fact that the penal code applicable in the North and the criminal code applicable in the South recognise the right to self-defence, we have to discuss the rights and proceed to examine the propriety.”
According to him, “In other words, if someone aims a gun at me, and I can quickly grab another gun, I have the right to shoot.”
Asked to clarify if the law allows for one to bear guns, the Senior Advocate replied in the affirmative, however, noting that one needs a gun licence.
“But you are required to apply for the licence first,” Falana explained.
However, the sounded a note of caution as regards what the constitution mandates when it comes to self-defence.
He added: “I am just saying the right to self -defence which is also guaranteed by the constitution. All I am not allowed to do is not use a force that is not proportional to the threat.
In other words, If you are going to hit me with a cane, I must not go for a gun which is not proportional.”
support for the right to bear arms by citizens comes as several lawmakers and governors have also appealed to the Federal Government to al- low the people to protect themselves from incur- sions by bandits and terror groups.
ln May, a former majority leader, Alhassan Ado- Doguwa, made a presentation on the floor of the House of Representatives, calling on the Federal Government to allow citizens to bear arms for self-defence.
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