Zamfara State government has said that it is still in dialogue with the Federal Government and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) over allowing qualified residents of the State to obtain weapons for self defense.
Addressing newsmen at the State Radio house in Gusau, the State capital, the commissioners of information, Hon. Ibrahim Magaji Dosara and that of Security and Internal Affairs, Hon. DIG Mamman Tsafe assured that the arrangement would be perfect.
“We are in a serious security crisis in Zamfara State which is no longer a secret to anybody. In fact, Zamfara State has become a colony of banditry in Nigeria,” they stated.
The commissioners explained that though the Federal Government had since placed embargo on issuing licences for individual possession of arms, the insecurity situation in the State had become uncontrollable, hence the request.
“We have implemented many stringent security measures to curtail the ugly situation but the banditry activities continued to escalate,” they lamented.
According to them, the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria stipulates that only the President and the Inspector General of police have the constitutional powers to determine which kind of weapons that would be issued licenses.
Commenting on the misuse of the weapons if allowed, the commissioners stated that the licenses would not be given to anyone until they face a screening committee that will be headed by the State commissioner of police and finally face the committee that will be headed by the IGP before they can be sure of the licenses.
Reacting to whether the security agencies in the State have failed, the commissioners said they did not fail, but commended the security agencies, saying that they were putting in their best and that the government is also doing its own best to curtail the ugly situation.
According to them, the insecurity situation was not only in Zamfara State but worldwide, stressing that it warranted stringent security measures.