Insecurity: The Aare-in-Council likes Mattawalle's order about who can carry arms.

LAGOS – The highest decision-making body of the Aareonakakanfo of Yoruba land, the Aareonakakanfo-in-Council, has praised Bello Matawale, the governor of Zamfara State, for telling the people of the state to get guns to protect themselves from bandits.

The government also told the head of the state police to give licenses to anyone who meets the requirements and wants to get one of these guns to protect themselves.

The person in charge of information for the state of Zamfara, Ibrahim Magaji Dosara, said that the new order was made because of all the violence in the state.


After its quarterly meeting at the Aareonakakanfo palace in Lagos, the Aare in Council asked other governors in the South-West to learn from this new development in a statement signed by the Gbonka Aare-Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Gboyega Adejumo.

The Yoruba traditional chiefs also said that terrorists who kill innocent people while pretending to be bandits and kidnappers can no longer get away with it in the South West.

"The governor of Zamfara State has made governors all over the country see things more clearly. Self-defense with weapons is a worldwide practice that should be supported as long as it is legalized. It shows that Nigeria's system for keeping people safe is broken.

"It's not a bad thing if people get weapons to protect themselves. This is how things are done everywhere in the world. "We have been telling Nigerians how important it is for them to use what they have to protect themselves," part of the statement said.

The Council was happy that some parts of Lagos state had made Okada illegal. It also asked the governors of the South-West to let the South West Security Stakeholders Group (SSSG) work with operation Amotekun to make the area safe for people to live in.

"Security is important in every area. So, if the rising level of insecurity is to stop, the security network must be improved to meet the needs of the people in the area.

"When the lack of safety in the country got too bad, we pushed for state police, which is one of the most important parts of restructuring. We also told the Federal Government that the best way to solve all of the problems facing the country as a whole was through regionalism.

The Council said, "Regionalism is the best way to solve the country's many problems because it gives each of the six federating units the freedom to work on its own and at its own pace, just like the 1960 and 1963 constitutions did."

The Aare-In-Council said that the group would always give good advice to the government and that the issue of insecurity was still important to everyone.

"The wrong message was sent by what happened in Owo. What do you think would happen to the attackers if people attending services were allowed to carry guns? They would not try to kill so many people.

"Most of the time, thieves go on a spree because they think their victims don't have any weapons or power. But if they know that people can fight back with weapons, they will think twice before attacking their victims.

"In the end, they would fail. But if these terrorists become king by showing off their high-tech weapons, the people will have nothing to protect themselves and will be at the mercy of their bloodsucking bandits.

"So I think the other governors, especially in the South-West, should do the same thing and let people in their states carry guns for self-defense. "Such a move would cut the number of dangerous situations by a lot, and peace could be partially restored," the Aare-in-Council said.