What did Jesus really mean when he said, "he who does not have a sword should sell his cloak and get one?" (Cf Luke 22:).
... a security expert, Jackson Ojo, noted that allowing civilians to use arms is against extant laws of the land. "What the Zamfara State Governor has just declared is like a mutiny" he said, while insisting that the law does not permit the citizenry to bear arms... On his part, another security expert, Timothy Avele, said "It is a direct call for anarchy at the highest level. You can't imagine the kind of extrajudicial killings that would result from this current governor's statement."
Recently, Zamfara State, North-West Nigeria, has been in the news because the governor, Bello Matawalle urged citizens to apply for and obtain licences to bear arms to defend themselves from terrorists, simply known as bandits, who have turned the state into a banana republic, and the epicentre of armed banditry, where life is "short and brutish."
The Ongoing Debate On Legitimate Self-defence in Nigeria
The governor, who made the statement as part of events to mark his two years in office, stressed that Zamfara "would collaborate with security agencies and traditional leaders to ensure that credible persons (are)... recruited from the communities."
Although some Nigerians supported the motion, it did not go down well with others across divides.
For example, the governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, backed the call by the Zamfara helmsman for residents to arm and defend themselves against terrorists. According to him, "We have called on our traditional rulers that we must all be ready to rise up to defend our land and defend our people. What I really mean by that is that, you can't fold your hands and say people (attackers) are coming and you are running away."
The governor, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who was reacting to the recent Pentecost Day massacre of over 40 parishioners at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, South-West Nigeria, which he governs, added that: "If they bring a fight to you, fight them back. There is no room to run away from it.
"That was why when I heard my brother in Zamfara, who said people should carry arms and license people to carry arms, it might be to some a bit of extreme measure, but when you are pushed to the wall, there is nothing else you can say."
For Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom, Matawalle's call was essentially an adoption of the Benue option.
It could be recalled that in 2019, the governor advised residents of the state to defend themselves against armed invaders.
While Speaking to journalists in the state capital, Makurdi, he maintained that: "The renewed killings and attack will not stop us from doing the right thing. We are not against anybody. But this intimidation must stop. I already told my people to arm themselves because the Bible also allows us to defend ourselves."
Ortom also stressed that, "And those who kill by the sword should die by the sword. Those who kill by AK-47 or whatever means, should also die by AK47. I have told my people, don't waste your time, don't wait for anybody to kill you, kill that person first. That's is my stand."
However, a security expert, Jackson Ojo, noted that allowing civilians to use arms is against extant laws of the land. "What the Zamfara State Governor has just declared is like a mutiny" he said, while insisting that the law does not permit the citizenry to bear arms.
On his part, another security expert, Timothy Avele, said "It is a direct call for anarchy at the highest level. You can't imagine the kind of extrajudicial killings that would result from this current governor's statement."
The Catechism of the Catholic Church sets the tone for the theology of legitimate self-defence when it says, "Someone who defends his life is not guilty of murder even if he is forced to deal his aggressor a lethal blow: if a man in self-defence uses more than necessary violence, it will be unlawful: whereas if he repels force with moderation, his defence will be unlawful."
Clerics, Experts On Legitimate Self-defence
"Rise up in prayer to God in vigilance and in legitimate self-defence, for the rights to life, to our homes, to our lands that is God-given", the Catholic Bishops of the Owerri Ecclesiastical Province had said on this issue in August 2020.
In a related development, the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most Reverend Alfred Adewale Martins highlighted the fundamental right to self-defence when he said, "If a person is under attack, he has the right to defend himself with equal force that he is being attacked. So, in principle every human being has the right to defend himself or herself."
He made the assertion amid multiple cases of violent attacks in Nigeria in a Thursday, June 3 news report, while speaking on the occasion of his 62nd birthday on Tuesday, June 1, 2021.
On his part, a frontline evangelical pastor, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye recently said, "Christians don't need guns. Samson did not fight with AK-47."
The cleric who cautioned that no one can be killed until God's appointed time, stressed that "no one should stay away from Church because of fear of being attacked."
Bishop Osadolor Ochei seems to agree with this position when he surmised that, "it is my own personal opinion that Nigerians should rise up to defend themselves as the governor of Zamfara said."
Legitimate Self-defence, Just War Theory
The Catechism of the Catholic Church sets the tone for the theology of legitimate self-defence when it says, "Someone who defends his life is not guilty of murder even if he is forced to deal his aggressor a lethal blow: if a man in self-defence uses more than necessary violence, it will be unlawful: whereas if he repels force with moderation, his defence will be unlawful.
"Nor is it necessary for salvation that a man omit the act of moderate self-defence to avoid killing the other man, since one is bound to take more care of one's own life than another's" (CCC #2264).
This simply means that killing should be the last resort after every other means has been exhausted.
By stating that "killing one's assailant is justified provided one does not intend to kill him," the Angelica Doctor, Saint Thomas Aquinas laid a solid foundation for the theology of legitimate self-defence in the Catholic Church.
Also known as "the principle of double effect", this position allows one to defend oneself without the intention of killing another person.
Here, the priority is to defend yourself; however, if in the process the Christian kills the person who attacked him, the act of killing the person who attacked him is not intended.
... the guiding principles for legitimate self-defence laid out by the Church underlines that we have a legitimate right to self defence on the basis of rightly ordered self-love. We have a duty to protect those in our care, such as our families; force should be used in moderation - it should be met with like force; and the taking of a human life in self defense should be a last resort, when all other options have been exhausted.
As such, because his primary intention is to defend himself, his action, including its consequence, is justified. This leads us to the just-war theory.
The Hague and Geneva Conventions cover how rules are drafted and implemented for soldiers, as well as punishment for war crimes, on the basis of ethical considerations.
This is where war ethics attempts to investigate whether going to war is right or wrong, the appropriate time to engage in war, and the moral basis for declaring such a war.
Between the fifth and thirteenth centuries, Saints Augustine and Thomas Aquinas wrote about the morality of killing or waging a war.
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These scholars seem to agree that a war could be morally justified if weapons of mass destruction or landmines, torture, chemicals and drones are not employed.
In the worst scenario, war must be based on ethical values, such that if it must be waged by a legitimate authority like a state, there must be a just cause, it be waged with the right intention, there must be some degree of success, it must be the last resort, and there must be a proportionate use of force.
In summary, the guiding principles for legitimate self-defence laid out by the Church underlines that we have a legitimate right to self defence on the basis of rightly ordered self-love. We have a duty to protect those in our care, such as our families; force should be used in moderation - it should be met with like force; and the taking of a human life in self defense should be a last resort, when all other options have been exhausted.
Conclusion
The scandalous killing of Abel by his brother Cain ( Cf. Gen 4:1-18) points to the sacredness of life on the one hand and the karma that awaits those who take life without qualms on the other.
That notwithstanding, there are Christians in Nigeria who feel that turning the other check (Cf. Luke 6:29) is suicidal cowardice, which can be likened to bathing with genocidal waters.
What did Jesus really mean when he said, "he who does not have a sword should sell his cloak and get one?" (Cf Luke 22:).
Well, perhaps it is crucial to end on an empathetic note that legitimate self-defence is not only a right but a moral imperative.
However, that right stops where murder defies logic and love, thus opening its mouth wide to shamelessly declare "legitimate" what is illegitimate.
Justine John Dyikuk is a lecturer in Mass Communication, University of Jos, editor of Caritas newspaper and Convener of the Media Team Network Initiative (MTNI), Nigeria.
