From Molly Kilete, Abuja
The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor, has condemned the call by the Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawale, urging its citizens to carry arms to defend themselves against bandits and other criminals terrorising the peace of the state.
Irabor said that the governor does not have the power to direct the state Commissioner of Police to issue licenses to interested citizens of the state. He said the armed forces, which is an instrument of policy implementation, do not take instructions from state governments, as the constitution gave such rights and powers only to the Commander-in-Chief for the use of the armed forces.
He called on the Attorney General of the Federation(AGF) to look at the constitution and the laws of the land and tell Nigerians weather or not the governor has the power to ask citizens to bear arms.
Irabor made the call when he spoke to newsmen at the opening of a Joint Exercise for the National Defence College and War Colleges of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, code-named “Exercise Grand Nationale,” holding in Abuja.
The CDS, who maintained that only the Commander-In-Chief has the constitutional powers to give directives to the armed forces as an instrument of policy implementation, said the armed forces and the security agencies and the armed forces have embarked on several operations to address insecurity in Zamfara state and its environs.
“I believe that, in my view, it is not the right way to go,” he stated.
“It was the responsibility of the Attorney General of the Federation to look at the constitution and the laws to see whether the governor had such powers.
“Of course, there are actions that members of the security agencies and the armed forces, in particular, the police and other security agencies, are doing to address insecurity in Zamfara and environs.
“Beyond that, of course, there are other legal issues, other issues of governance, issues that the government could have addressed using the instrumentality of the law that are available for him to bring greater peace and security.
“But as I said, I do not intend to say much about it, but I believe that the Federal Government, using the Attorney General, will look at the details of that press release and give further instruction.
Continuing, the CDS stated: “If what I read is true, I do not also think that the governor has the power to instruct the commissioner of police to issue licenses, because the commissioner of police does not have the powers to issue licenses.
“I believe that what we are doing in Zamfara and of course, across the states of the federation, is in deference to the provisions of the constitution.
“So, we are there because we are there to give support to the civil authority, in this case, the police.
“We do not need to restate what the issues are that have led to the deployment of military across the country are, but then, like I said, we are doing the very best to ensure that peace returns to every part of the country.”