Ofunu Idoko
24 February 2009
Abuja — Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) yesterday disclosed that it was considering sending a bill that would allow every adult to carry arms as a way of checking unwarranted attacks to the National Assembly.
The body also took a swipe at what it called the non-challant attitude of President Umaru Musa Yar Adua and Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to the violent crisis in some parts of the North, asking them to resign if they cannot proffer solutions to the problem.
Reviewing the religious crisis in Bauchi and the attendant death toll, CAN Secretary General, Samuel S. Salifu , said at a news conference that it was passing a vote of no confidence on Yar'Adua and Jonathan for their alleged inability to proffer solutions to the crisis.
CAN said it received the news of the killings in Bauchi over the weekend with deep pain and sorrow, adding that it was considering sending a bill to the National Assembly on gun ownership in the country.
"We met this morning and we are considering sending a bill to the National Assembly to facilitate adults who are twenty one years and above to make it legal to own arms and weapons.
"Everybody should buy his own gun....Right now, as we are talking, they are still killing people in Bauchi. Where are the security people?" he said.
CAN said reports from Bauchi State showed that about 11 Nigerians were burnt to death out of which six were christians while three were burnt beyond recognition. It said 12 churches and a mosque were burnt and several houses destroyed over the weekend in the mayhem.
According to the CAN scribe, "over the weekend and even today (yesterday), we got the reports on the killings and we tried to reach on phone one of the Special Advisers to the Governor by name Adamu, who assured us that the situation was under control but thereafter I asked him to call me back but he didn't up till now. We also tried to reach the Vice President on the situation but could not.
" What bothers us most is that the president and vice president of this country have the responsibility of providing security for the citizens...The perception there fore to CAN is that the President and the Vice are very weak in tackling the situation".
Because if these things happens in other parts of the world, in whatever form, you find the president coming out to address the country.
"This is not the first time we have been having this in this country. We had it during Shagari time, he was a muslim too, but he talked on it, so we don't know why our present president is dumb and is saying nothing. As Christians with options , we are expecting the president to come out and condemn this act as soon as possible. Life is sacred and it must be respected. If he finds it very difficult, himself and his vice and they are not intending to take responsibility, then they should resign."
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The campaigning for permission to carry guns is a welcome development and long overdue. Responsible people in the society should be given licences to carry guns. First, it will reduce arm robbery, imagine arm robbers coming to a street, one or two people with licences to carry gun will be bold to come out and challenge them; moreover, it will discourage robbery. The Second Amendment to the US Constitution declares that "a well regulated militia" is "necessary" in order to maintain a free state, and as an explanation for prohibiting infringement of "the right of the people to keep and bear arms." We need law like this! Security is one of Nigeria’s major problems and has driven lots of prospective investors to Nigeria. However, the only licences available to individuals in Nigeria are licence for a single double barrel rifles, and its issue by the Police commissioners in state. This is not enough; permission should be give to more categories of gun suitable for civilians. In a recent study by Newsweek there are 215 million guns in America in a population of about 250 million people, meaning almost every household across the country owns a gun. I own a fire extinguisher, why can’t I own a gun? If I know how to use a shotgun, it will take care of any intruder to my house?; It's not the guns that kill, it's the people; Ownership of arms should be a right, I should be able to defend my family and my future generation. In Nigeria, can police protect you or your family? In Nigeria, guns kill few people compared to accidents from our bad roads, but can we ban driving? It baffles me when I see most of the uneducated policemen in Nigeria just walking around with gun holsters and rifles every where and wonders why responsible people should not be allowed or licensed to carry one. Thomas Jefferson once said: "What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms."