The Executive Director of the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) says citizens can defend themselves against non-state actors when necessary.
Okechukwu Nwanguma, Executive Director of RULAAC, made this statement while condemning recent terror attacks in Plateau and Benue states by criminals. He said the right to life is a fundamental right under the Human Rights Charter and Nigerian Constitution, which the government must 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. He added that the right to life, safety, and dignity must not be sacrificed for political convenience, ethnic bias, or cowardice.
Importantly, he strictly said that those behind the attacks should be arrested and prosecuted as criminals, not appeased as aggrieved stakeholders. Victims, he said, must not be forgotten; they should be rehabilitated, resettled, and fully compensated. (NAN)
