Nwabueze blames Buhari for failing to disarm Fulani herdsmen
Renowned constitutional lawyer, Professor Ben Nwabueze (SAN) has blamed President Muhammadu Buhari for failing to disarm the killer Fulani herdsmen, at the beginning of the conflict.
According to him, if they were disarmed, the killings, destruction of properties and the displacement of persons might not have occurred to the point of escalating to a national calamity, and the point where self-defence becomes a national issue.
His words: “The action which the aggrieved individuals may take in self-defence, guaranteed by the constitution, must be viewed in the context of the extraordinary situation created by the Fulani herdsmen insurgency and the means they employ – Ak47 and other sophisticated weaponry.
“Faced by an attack by such means, self-defence using sticks, bows and arrows is futile and meaningless. What is the value in guaranteeing a person the right of self-defence and then denying him the appropriate means to exercise the right effectively when the need to do so arises?
“For self-defence to be effective and meaningful in the prevailing context, it means that it must be proportionate to the means employed by the attackers.”
He added that disarming the citizenry and leaving them unprotected against the killer Fulani herdsmen would only render nugatory, to a large extent, the constitutional guarantee of self-defence, viewed again in the context of the extraordinary situation created by the Fulani herdsmen armed insurgency and the failure or inability of the Federal Government to stop it.
The result of Nigerians rising up to defend themselves he said, may be indiscriminate killings, on both sides, ‘ethnic cleansing’ and anarchy. Our hope and wish is that such should not in fact happen, he said.
He therefore urged Nigerians to admit that the affairs of the country have not been conducted with a due sense of responsibility as well as a due sense of shame.
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