A former Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mike Ejiofor, has faulted Minister of Defence, Maj.-Gen. Bashir Magashi’s call for Nigerians to defend themselves against bandits and other criminal elements.
Ejiofor condemned the comment in an interview with The Punch on Thursday.
Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Magashi said, “It is the responsibility of everybody to keep alert and to find safety when necessary. But we shouldn’t be cowards.
“At times, the bandits will only come with about three rounds of ammunition, when they fire shots everybody runs. In our younger days, we stand to fight any aggression coming for us.”
However, he kicked against Nigerians being allowed to bear arms.
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Reacting, Ejiofor, who is a security expert, said that the government has the constitutional responsibility to secure the citizenry.
“I want to believe that the minister of defence didn’t mean what he said. Perhaps, it was a slip of (the) tongue because what he is calling for is pure anarchy.
“Government’s responsibility is to protect lives and properties. It is a social contract that we have now surrendered our rights to government to protect. Somebody saying people should start defending themselves is an admission of complete failure of government. Such statement should be coming from non-society organisations and definitely not government functionaries,” Ejiofor said.
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