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The right of citizens to bear arms is usually debate material; unfortunately, the alternative(s) don’t look very pretty

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A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

Second Amendment to the Consitution of the United States (source).

With many residents of the affected areas still unaccounted for, the death toll keeps being revised, with the latest being pegged at 195. Unfortunately, this figure is likely to keep going up, at least for a while, as more corpses are being discovered.

This Is Not An Isolated Case

If this seems like a once-off occurrence to you, it is not. During a similar period in 2018, January 1st to be specific, over 70 farmers were murdered in their sleep in Benue State, Central Nigeria, by terrorist herdsmen who felt aggrieved that the state had passed an Anti Open Grazing Law in response to the perennial crisis between farmers and herders in the state in particular and region in general.

The over 70 farmers were given a mass burial by the state, and as the tears of their loved ones flowed freely, so were their destinies and dreams cut short, to be buried six feet under the ground at a time that wasn’t theirs.

To date, no one has been charged — or convicted.

No Part of the Country is Spared

If you’re not a Nigerian or are not familiar with this story, it may seem that only Benue and Plateau States have been the targets of these bloodthirsty marauders. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

Enugu State, for instance, which happens to be in the southern part of the country, has also not been spared — with stories like this one being reported at least once every fortnight.

Ondo State is also not exempt — as is the rest of Nigeria (scholarly article in PDF format).

One thing however unites the victims of these bloodthirsty marauders: they were all, at the time of their attack and respective deaths, not armed so could not defend themselves or present a fair fight.

The Roads Aren’t Safe Too

If you’re thinking that this is limited to attacks in residential dwellings only, you’re mistaken: traveling on the roads in Nigeria also presents a unique challenge — that of the threat of kidnap by armed persons.

In 2021, for instance, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), the body responsible for mobilizing fresh graduates for the mandatory one year of service to Nigeria, had this to say on page 56 of their handbook titled: ‘Security Awareness and Education Handbook For Corps Members and Staff’.

…then, alert your family members, friends and colleagues in order to have someone on hand to pay off the ransom that could be demanded(!)

Source [exclamation mine].

A page from the NYSC handbook quoted above. Source: Premium Times

Yet another ‘curious’ page from the NYSC handbook quoted above. Source: Premium Times

As bizarre as the above appears, it is the reality of road travel in the country, and the NYSC was only ‘bold’ to publish what (almost) everyone in Nigeria already knew.

It is also curious (and a tacit admit of state defeat) that this document encourages citizens to be ‘nice’ to their kidnappers, arrange for the demanded ransom to be paid as quickly as possible, and importantly, to keep shut afterwards.

What the NYSC failed to add, however, was that contrary to its position of the roads one was likely to be kidnapped on, the Kaduna, Abuja — Lokoja, and Aba — Portharcourt roads, one could be (freely/easily) kidnapped virtually anywhere in Nigeria, even in or around the estate where they live, even if they live in Nigeria’s capital and the seat of power, Abuja.

On January 2nd, 2024, for instance, armed men brutally kidnapped five sisters, a relative, and their father right in their estate home in the Federal Capital.

The BBC reported that a total ransom of $68,000 was demanded — which the father, who was released earlier to source for the funds, was meant to pay. However, due to the ‘late’ payment of this ransom, one of the girls was killed, and the ransom was purportedly raised — and paid.

On January 21st, 2024, the Nigerian Police claimed to have rescued the girls from the clutches of their kidnappers; however, the girl’s uncle, Sheriff Al-Kadriyar, clarified that a ransom was paid, but no help came from the Nigerian Police.

This, like the case of marauding killer herdsmen, isn’t a once-off kidnapping incident in Nigeria. Kidnapping for ransom has become one of the major challenges of road travel in Nigeria.

For instance, in 2024 alone, passengers were kidnapped on the Benin-Ore road severally, passengers were kidnapped along the Kabba/Obajana/Lokoja road in Kogi State, passengers were kidnapped in Olalamaboro Local Government Area of Kogi State, en route to Abuja, passengers were kidnapped on Akure-Ikere road, passengers were also kidnapped on the Inele-Eteke Ogugu new road in Kogi, en route to Abuja.

While this may seem to be a lot, it is only the tip of the iceberg, just for 2024 alone. It is also worthy of note that most of the kidnappings never get coverage by the Press as they have become a daily occurrence…

Now, if you’ve been paying attention and reading carefully the links, all the recent stories of the road kidnaps have one thing in common: the police are either ‘not aware of the situation’ or if/when they are ‘aware’, no arrests/prosecutions have been effected. The only case where the police claimed to be have been responsible for rescuing the girls who were kidnapped in their home in the capital, Abuja, was refuted by the family.

If you’re not killed in your home, you’re likely to be kidnapped on the badly maintained and chronically debilitated Nigerian roads (by armed persons) for ransom.

Nigeria Is Not the Only Country With This Challenge

Nigeria, curiously, isn’t the only country with this challenge: Mali, the Central African Republic, The Democratic Republic of Congo, and Cameroon all have faced the menace of marauding herdsmen, and though the toll is usually nothing to be compared to the Nigerian experience, collectively, the figure rises to the thousands.

What is curious and worthy of note is that most of the would-be victims outside the shores of Nigeria were/are not exactly ‘civilians’ and, as such, were/are armed and usually return fire-for-fire. For example, when these terrorists attacked a military base in Ngaliema, The DRC, in the article quoted immediately above, they wounded a soldier but lost three of their men in return.

Curiously, it is not a coincidence that of these countries, only The DRC has made firearms legal for most of the population.

The Common Factor Amongst All States With This Challenge

The uniting factor of all the African States with this challenge of insecurity and senseless slaughter by marauding killer herdsmen (and the kidnap for ransom menace) is the absence of firearm legality and the ensuing lack of adequate state protection of lives and properties.

In Nigeria, the story is no different: the ownership of firearms and their use is prohibited and restricted to security agencies only — with a few grossly insignificant exceptions, as per The Firearms Act (PDF).

According to the provisions of the Nigerian Firearms Act, only basic, ‘dane’ guns — which are useless for self-defense are allowed to be kept by Nigerians, and even so, these firearms are to be kept exclusively for game hunting. For any legal ownership of a firearm for self-defense, a license/permit must come directly from either the hand of the Inspector General of Police or the President.

If your hopes have been raised, this is where it makes sense to dash them…the Nigerian State has never been interested in private ownership of arms for self-defense.

Even the little leverage the Firearms Act has given Nigerians who are interested in firearms for self-defense is continually infringed upon by the state.

For example, in 2019, President Buhari signed an Executive Order to ‘Remove, Revoke and Banish all Firearms Certificates and Licences Throughout the Country.’ This order sought to see all firearms in private hands, even those covered with a valid license as permitted by the Firearms Act, revoked and the arms returned to the hands of the State.

The legislature intervened, reminding the presidency that an Executive Order couldn’t cancel out an Act of Parliament. Unfortunately, to the present author’s knowledge, that Order has never been vacated to this day.

Firearms Prohibitions, the Hopelessness of Security Operatives, and Systematic State Failure

In theory, via an Act of Parliament, the Nigerian State has not banned the ownership and use of firearms in the country by private citizens for self-defense. However, its intricate wording and especially the actions of the presidency on whom most of the powers are conferred, tell a different and curious tale.

Unfortunately, too, that marauding herdsmen kill innocent citizens in their sleep and kidnappers operate openly — both on the highways and in the federal capital without any challenge by the security agencies leads to only one conclusion: law enforcement agents are tired, weak, or incapable of securing the lives and property of the people.

The proliferation of illegal arms and their concentration in the hands of criminals means the bad guys have a monopoly of violence and lethal force, while good, hard-working citizens are left at their mercy while the state simply looks away.

It gets worse when the President hopes that God will answer the cries of Nigerians and the Senate President expressly asks Nigerians to pray (more) to God for their security.

Do You Still Believe the Right to Bear Arms Should Be Stuffed?

The right to bear arms is a logical extension of the right to life, which is sacred and universal. This is particularly true if the state cannot protect its citizens from senseless, extra-judicial slaughter, is not able or willing to regulate the illegal firearms in possession of bad non-state actors, and is reluctant (or unable) to prosecute those who brazenly violate the right to life of others, usually, unprovoked.

The right to bear arms is a logical extension of the right to life, which is sacred and universal.

Guns aren’t bad in themselves; their wielders are. If you, however, still believe that guns shouldn’t be in private hands, just close your eyes for a moment and imagine living for a month — and plying the Nigerian highways where the threat of kidnap is real and the chance of getting help either from the security agencies or private persons is ZERO.

Think about this.

Conclusion

Recently, a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Ned Nwoku, sponsored a Bill seeking an amendment to the Firearms Act currently in use (in the wake of the December 24th, 2023 massacre in Plateau State, the horrified story this article opened with).

In his words:

It’s evident that the existing security measures have not been sufficient in safeguarding our communities. Allowing law-abiding citizens to possess firearms could potentially provide a sense of security and a means to protect themselves and their families from immediate threats.

No fitting conclusion to this story than the words of Senator Nwoku, brilliantly quoted and linked to above. However, more needs to be done, and the right to bear arms by private citizens should be interpreted as a logical extension of Article 3 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, especially when it is understood that failure to allow citizens this right, inevitably leads to the collapse of the right to life, especially in the developing world.

As I wrap up this story (I started writing it at the turn of the New Year), I’ve been greeted with yet some news of some merciless and senseless slaughter of at least 15 innocent people in Benue State, Central Nigeria by these marauding, armed herdsmen.

The sad irony? This has become a recurring event; strange as it might appear, it is gradually becoming ‘normal.’ The victims would be buried, their loved ones left without closure (and forced to live in constant fear if they’ll be next), and the killers going about scot-free, plotting their next harvest of death!

What is the logic in denying citizens the sacred right to bear arms, failing to secure their lives by offering adequate state protection, and ultimately, miserably failing to regulate illegal ownership of firearms?

To see them wiped off from the surface of the earth — and their loved ones locked into perpetual misery as a result of lack of closure as the assailants roam the face of the earth, looking for whose life to cut short next?