‘You’re Only Sending Them To Death Sentence’ – Sani Faults Prohibition Of Weapons For Amotekun, Local Guards

Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, has criticised the restrictions on live weapons for Amotekun and vigilante services, insisting that the creation of State police remains the solution to insecurity in Nigeria.

Naija News reports that Sani, while featuring on Arise Television’s Prime Time on Tuesday night, said that without live weapons, the Amotekun and local guards are merely sent out on a death sentence.

Sani noted that the police and military in Nigeria lacked personnel compared with global best practices.

He said, “I don’t think that there is anybody who has come up with solutions to how we can address the issue of insecurity in Nigeria. I have heard a lot of people in interviews but nobody has come up with the solution.

“You know why? The only solution is the creation of State police. Today in Nigeria, every state governor has decided to have vigilant services, some in the South but do you know why they are not effective? It’s because a lot of people who come in here have not really looked at the Nigerian Farm Act.

“It prohibits the vigilant services from using live weapons, so when you have Amotekun, you have vigilant services, you are only sending them to death sentences because they can’t be effective.

“Why am I supporting state police? There are less security on the ground, we have less than 400,000 police personnel; less than 250,000 military personnel in a country of 230 million people. The global best standard is about 450 to one security personnel and we have not met that standard.

“Here in Nigeria, we have a lot of ungoverned spaces and that is the reason why you can travel point A to point B in Nigeria without seeing any security personnel in the North.

“I can’t remember any country that practiced true federalism without state police, why are we different in Nigeria and when are we not practicing it?”