The Zamfara State Government on Monday gave more clarifications over its announcement that citizens should acquire guns to defend themselves.
The Government, through the commissioner for Information, Ibrahim Dosara, had released at the weekend that people should be ready to defend themselves in the face of unending banditry and insurgency.
The directive has elicited national reactions with some condemning it while some have applauded it.
The police have said however that it has no directive whatsoever from the state government.
The Commissioner, Dosara, however on Monday while speaking on a Channels TV programme Sunrise, said the government has not given a blanket directive to all citizens to acquire guns.
He said guns can only be acquired by those who are legally able t and can be granted licenses.
“We have not said everybody should get a gun. No, it is those who are lisenced to carry guns that have been advised,” Dosara said on Monday.
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He challenged the former Deputy Governor in the State, Mallam Gusau who has condemned the statement saying the former Governor is aware of the security situation in the state.
He accused Gusau of politicizing the issue just as he asked him to accept to be the Commandant General of the special forces that are facing bandits if he truly believes the security situation has not gotten to point of self-defence.
He said all efforts are geared towards ending insecurity.
“The concern of the Zamfara government is how do we protect our people. We never said we have instructed the police. This is a process we have put in place and we have started and we are moving to see that we are successful.”
Asked if it is not suicidal to ask residents with weaker arms like small guns to confront terrorists with AK-47 or AK-49, Dosara said that there is also the psychological warefare strategy in the action of the government knowing that the consciousness that residents also have guns, no matter its capacity, sends some signals to attackers that they could also meet their waterloo.
“There is something we call psychological warfare. Once there is the fact that people have guns in their houses, what we are doing is to create a psychological warfare among the bandits,” he said
The commissioner also said there are now in the state category of businessmen called “conflict entreprenures.”
He said these people have been identified as people who carry out one form of business or the other all in support of banditry and terrorism.
“Most of them sabotage the efforts of the government in ending insecurity. We have made so many arrests and so many people are undergoing investigations. Some of these things you have to keep them security,” the commissioner noted