The Western State security outfit, Amotekun, and other voluntary corps in other states may not be able to secure the license to carry AK-47 rifles even with their state government intervention.
According to The Punch, the voluntary security outfits of some states vying for the assualt rifle to combat non-state actors infiltrating their state may be hindered due to the issuance of fresh firearms licences imposed on the police since 2013 have yet to be lifted.
An anonymous source disclosed to newsmen that there were no plans to lift the imposed license, adding that plans of the governors to write the president may be unfruitful.
Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, on Thursday said he would procure Ak-47, Ak-49 and other sophisticated weapons for his newly inaugurated state’s Community Volunteer Guards.
He decried the Federal Government’s failure to dislodge terrorists rampaging through the streets, killing people, abducting innocent persons and destroying people’s property, as he noted that no fewer than 5,000 persons had been killed in the state since 2015.
“The issue of AK-47, AK-49 and other weapons are the prerogative of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. That is why in my inauguration speech today, I said we will seek, and by tomorrow, I’m submitting a letter to the president to grant a licence for AK-47, AK49 to our community volunteer guards,” he said in an interview on Arise TV on Thursday night.
While the Firearms Act allows the president to exercise his powers to grant licence through the Inspector-General of Police, successive IGPs before the emergence of Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) as the President in 2015 had retained the licensing embargo.
Before Ortom’s statement on Thursday, governors Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State and Aminu Masari of Katsina State had asked the residents of their respective states to defend themselves, owing to the worsening insecurity across the country. Despite the opposition by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, Matawalle insisted that residents of the state must carry guns.
Similarly, governors in the South-West had while establishing the Amotekun Corps expressed their desire to arm the members of the vigilance group. They had written to the Inspector-General of Police to secure a licence for the Amotekun Corps, but the request, according to findings, has yet to be approved.
The then Force spokesperson, Frank Mba, had said the police would follow laid-down rules in considering the request.
Meanwhile, an aide to Ortom confirmed to newsmen on Friday that the governor had yet to write the letter as promised, but that he would do so next week.
Some top commanders of the Amotekun Corps also told newsmen on Thursday that they were still making efforts to secure the licence.
When contacted on Friday to comment on whether or not the embargo would be lifted on account of renewed requests by governors, the Force Public Relations Officer, SP Muyiwa Adejobi, could not be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, as of the time of filing this report, top sources in the police told newsmen that there were no plans to lift the embargo, given the current level of arms proliferation in the country. Some of the sources lamented that in spite of the embargo, the insecurity in the nation had spiked significantly, wondering what would happen if fresh licences were issued.
“It was because of the level of arms proliferation that the then Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, imposed the embargo, and since then it has not been lifted. Now that insecurity is worse and the illegal arms in circulation have increased, it may be suicidal to start issuing fresh licences,” a top source said.
