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By: News Peddlers
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| Taoreed Lagbaja, and Femi Falana |
Human rights lawyer Femi Falana, has said Nigerians have the right to carry firearms.
Taoreed Lagbaja, Nigeria's chief of army staff, has suggested that allowing Nigerians to carry firearms would lead to anarchy.
"I do not support that. "I think that's a call for anarchy," Mr Lagbaja said on Channels TV on Sunday.
Mr Falana, disagreed by saying
"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 to the North and the criminal code applicable to the South recognises the right to self-defence,” the rights advocate stated in an interview on Wednesday with the TV station.
“In the first place, we have to discuss the rights and proceed to examine the propriety,” Mr Falana explained. “In other words, if someone aims a gun at me, and I can quickly grab another gun, I have the right to shoot.”
While clarifying whether or not the law allows one to bear guns, he emphasised that one needs to first apply for a licence, pointing out the demands of the constitution regarding self-defence.
“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,” Mr Falana added
In 2022, the House of Representatives stated that it would consider establishing a centre in Nigeria for the coordination, control, and proliferation of small arms and light weapons.
The consideration followed the House Committee on National Security and Intelligence's recommendation as a measure to help advance the war on insecurity within communities and society as a whole.
Previously, the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons warned Nigerians against illegally acquiring weapons.