Governor Umar Namadi of Jigawa State has dismissed the call for Nigerians to resort to self-defence, saying the country “has not reached that level yet.”

According to the governor, asking Nigerians to defend themselves against bandits is a call for anarchy.

Namadi spoke yesterday during a live programme.

Earlier, former Minister of Defence, Lt.-Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (rtd), had advised victims of bandits and terrorist attacks in Benue and Plateau states to defend themselves against marauding gunmen invading their communities.

Danjuma argued that relying on the government for protection was no longer realistic.

Reacting, Governor Namadi maintained that resorting to self-help would worsen the crisis, adding that there were alternative conflict resolutions that do not require the people to take up arms.

The governor insisted that the Federal Government was doing its best to tackle insecurity, stressing that self-defencewould lead to anarchy in the country.

“He (Danjuma) is a very serious security person, but I think citizens being allowed to defend themselves will cause anarchy, but the issue is, the government is doing with (the) best in the security architecture and security arrangement,” Namadi said.

Referencing how he addressed the farmer-herder conflict in Jigawa State, the governor noted that the crisis would have worsened if he had encouraged the victims to take up arms to protect themselves.

Instead, Namadi said he engaged the farmers, herders and traditional rulers in talks to resolve the age-long conflict.