In a dramatic response to rising insecurity, an influential traditional ruler in northwestern Nigeria’s Kebbi State on Friday urged local residents to pool their financial resources and purchase firearms to defend themselves against relentless criminal gang attacks.
This desperate call to arms follows years of sporadic, deadly violence inflicted on parts of Kebbi State by both jihadists and heavily armed criminal syndicates.
Notably, security analysts attribute a significant portion of this recent bloodshed to the emergence of the Sahel-linked Lakurawa jihadist group. Specifically, these bandit groups regularly terrorize the region.
The gangs routinely kidnap highway travelers, raid entire villages, abduct innocent locals for ransom, and completely destroy homes before setting them ablaze.
In a five-minute online video obtained by AFP, Samaila Muhammad Mera, the emir of Argungu, in Kebbi State urged dozens of local chiefs in his territory to procure arms to defend their communities.
“The government is overwhelmed, you should use the weapons to protect your homes and property from attacks,” Mera said at the meeting.
He also added that “Every community should stockpile arms to defend themselves.”
“You should pool money, buy weapons to protect your communities,” the monarch said, “even if it means laying down our lives.”
Mera meanwhile, is the most prominent traditional monarch in Kebbi state, courtesy of the annual fishing festival in Argungu, a cultural attraction which has drawn tourists from all over the world for years.
BACKSTORY…
Significantly, Mera’s recent intervention is not the first time an influential leader in northern Nigeria has urged citizens to weaponize against armed bandits.
In August 2021, the Governor of Katsina State at the time, Aminu Bello Masari, explicitly ordered residents living in vulnerable communities to buy firearms so they could actively repel attacks.
Similarly, in December 2020, Emir Attahiru Muhammad Ahmad—the top traditional ruler in neighboring Zamfara State, which remains the epicenter of bandit violence—pleaded with the federal government to legalize firearms for self-defense.
Join Our Social Media Channels:
