A senator representing Osun East, Francis Fadahunsi, has called on the National Assembly to pass legislation that would permit responsible Nigerians to carry arms, especially as the nation faces escalating security challenges.
A brief video of his remarks during plenary in Osogbo, Osun State, on Thursday, captured his position.
Fadahunsi, a member of the All Progressives Congress, argued that allowing responsible citizens to bear arms is necessary, noting that around 120 countries worldwide already permit civilians to legally own weapons.
“We are almost at the military rule, and we are at war. He (Tinubu) is the Commander in Chief because they listen to him and he is spending on them. That is what can solve the problem.
“Today, about 120 countries have legalised carrying arms. I think it is time for Nigeria to allow us to carry arms.
“If the elite and a few of us who are okay are carrying guns, it will be war against these criminals, and they will run away because they are not many,” Fadahunsi said.
He added that the National Assembly should act decisively, saying, “It is time for us to make a law that the kidnappers, including the negotiators, are criminals and should face the death penalty.”
Calling for a restructuring of the nation’s security leadership, he questioned the composition of the Ministry of Defence.
He stated, “The Minister of Defence is not a soldier or a retired general. The Minister of State, all of them are businessmen. The NSA is a retired policeman.
“Do you know that these soldiers called us, even those carrying superior guns than theirs, ‘bloody civilians’, and that is what is affecting us.
“The Commander in Chief needs to look at the military architecture around him and do the needful. If not, we will continue to waste money because they will not take orders from any other person other than their own general.”
His comments came shortly after President Bola Tinubu urged herders to abandon open grazing, surrender illegal weapons, and embrace ranching as part of a new national approach to addressing the persistent farmer–herder conflict.
According to a statement reported on Wednesday, the President said the Federal Government is committed to long-term solutions to the violent clashes between farming communities and herders—conflicts that have destabilised many parts of the North and Middle Belt.
The senator’s warning also follows a rise in school kidnappings in Niger, Kebbi, and other regions within the past week, as well as continued farmer–herder attacks in the North Central zone that have claimed numerous lives in recent months.
“Ranching is now the path forward for sustainable livestock farming and national harmony,” Tinubu said.
