Residents of Argungu Emirate have been told to legally purchase arms to protect their communities against persistent attacks by bandits.
The Emir of Argungu, Alhaji Muhammad Samaila Mera, who made the call during a meeting with district heads, village heads, and ward heads at his palace told communities in domain to always be vigilant and take proactive measures against terrorists and criminal elements that often invade the areas.
He told the communities to raise funds collectively to purchase legally approved weapons for self-defence, saying “if you acquire such weapons legally, make sure the bandits are aware that your community possesses the means to defend itself.
“This alone can serve as a deterrent and discourage attacks,” he said, adding that Islam forbids Muslims to remain helpless in the face of violence.
“It is not right for a Muslim to remain passive while criminals kill people, kidnap innocent citizens, and rape our women. Be prepared to defend yourselves, your families, and your communities against any attack,” the Emir stated.
He said many communities had become vulnerable because they could not defend themselves, adding that “when bandits attack, people start running, including village heads. This is happening because communities do not have adequate means of self-defence.”
The Emir said he was not asking the communities to take the law into their hands or engage in acts of terrorism, but rather advocating lawful self-defence, as insecurity has become too overwhelming for security agencies alone to handle.
He said it was disheartening for communities to continue to lose lives without any form of resistance, while warning against ethnic violence and extrajudicial killings.
The Emir said he would not support anyone carrying arms to attack other ethnic groups or engage in unlawful killings, adding that many of the attacks are reprisals, and therefore urged the communities not to carry out revenge attacks against innocent people because every unlawful killing only breeds another cycle of revenge.
The emir said that, although many members of the Lakurawa group had left the area, they had allegedly left behind armed bandits who continue to terrorize communities and maintain links with their former collaborators.
He called on communities across the Argungu Emirate to remain vigilant, cooperate with security agencies, and uphold the fear of God in all their dealings.
