Banditry: Don’t Be Cowards, Defend Yourselves, Defence Minister Tells Nigerians

The Minister of Defence, Maj. Gen. Bashir Magashi (retd), has said it is the responsibility of every citizen to be at alert amid the insecurity in Nigeria. He said people should show that they are not cowards by defending themselves, noting that the operations of bandits are sometimes carried out with a few rounds of ammunition to cause fear on the citizenry. “At times, the bandits will only come with about three rounds of ammunition, when they fire shots everybody runs. In our younger days, we stand to fight any aggression coming for us. Our own duty is to ensure that no Nigerian is hurt, and we are capable of protecting the integrity of this nation and we’ll continue to do it even though we are so stretched.”

Commenting on whether the Nigeria government should permit citizens to carry arms, Magashi say “Even in the developed countries, they are still debating on it, whether to continue or not. But i don’t advise Nigeria to start issuing firearms for personal use.”