‘Don’t leave fight against bandits, others to military alone,’ Minister charges Nigerians

The Minister of Defence, Major Gen. Bashir Magashi (retd), on Wednesday, challenged Nigerians not to leave the fight against insecurity to the military alone.

The minister, who stated this during the screening of the new service chiefs at the House of Representatives, said it is the responsibility of every Nigerian to be alert and ensure safety when necessary.

He, however, assured that the Federal Government would adopt the same tactics used rescuing the abducted students of Government Science Technical College, Kankara, Katsina State, to rescue the 27 students abducted from a college in Niger State.

He said the service chiefs would swing into action immediately they are through with their screening and track down the kidnappers with a view to rescuing the children.

Magashi said: ” “Well, security is not the responsibility of the military alone. It is the responsibility of everybody to be alert and ensure safety when necessary. We shouldn’t be cowards. Sometimes the bandits come with about three rounds of ammunition and when they fire shots everybody will run. In our younger days, we stand to fight any form of aggression.

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“Why should people run away from minor, minor aggressions? We should stand and face them. If these people know that the people have the competence and capability to defend themselves, they will run away.

“On the abducted students, we have demonstrated our ability to take on the challenge. We have done it in Katsina; when children were kidnapped, within two days, we got them back. Hopefully, this time, we will do the same thing to get these captives back. We are planning.

“We have not got feedback on the activities going on in Niger State. But I am sure that before the end of the day, we will be given a full brief on what is going on in Niger State.

“Nigerians have been asking the government to allow them to carry arms. It is an issue currently even in the developed country. They are still debating on whether to continue to allow people to bear arms or stop. But I don’t advise Nigerians to bear firearms for internal use.”

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