The Executive Director of the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), Okechukwu Nwanguma, says citizens have a right to defend themselves against non-state actors when necessary.
The Executive Director of RULAAC, made this statement while condemning recent terror attacks in Plateau and Benue States by criminal elements.
He said the right to life is a fundamental right under the Human Rights Charter and Nigerian Constitution, which the government is duty-bound to uphold.
Nwanguma described the attacks as deliberate acts of violence, a form of slow-motion ethnic cleansing wrongly labelled as herder-farmer conflict.
He said communities should establish lawful local security, insisting people are morally and legally justified in self-defence when the state fails in its duties.
“Faced with this existential threat and inadequate security structures, communities must now build self-defence systems to secure their right to life,” he said.
He added that the right to life, safety, and dignity must not be sacrificed for political convenience, ethnic bias, or cowardice.
“A government that cannot protect its people loses legitimacy, a people who fail to act may lose their lives, land, and future,” he warned.
Nwanguma rejected state policing, saying granting governors control of police under current structures will give tyrants more tools of oppression.
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He noted some governors have abused existing state security outfits, using them to target opponents, stifle dissent, and settle political grievances.
According to him, insecurity stems not only from limited manpower but from a political culture that tolerates impunity when it serves vested interests.
“These governors already dominate state legislatures and judiciaries – handing them Police powers would dangerously unbalance democratic checks,” he cautioned.
Nwanguna also questioned their ability to fund such forces, noting many states struggle to pay salaries or pensions.
He called for those behind the attacks to be arrested and prosecuted as criminals, not appeased as aggrieved stakeholders.
Victims, he said, must not be forgotten, adding that they should be rehabilitated, resettled, and fully compensated.
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