There was uproar in the Senate yesterday over the allegation that more then half of senators own firearms.
Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume (Borno South) made the allegation while contributing to a motion on “The plan of the Zamfara State Governor to arm vigilante groups in the state with rifles”.
Ndume, who opposed the motion, noted that the problem in Zamfara State is that gunmen attack communities while the communities look helpless.
He noted that if gunmen know that communities and villagers are armed, they would think twice before planning attack.
He said: “Most senators are now clamouring for state police. Who will be in charge of state police if not governors? If there is state police, is it not the governors that will be in charge?
“The state police will be a glorified vigilante group. It will be an improvement of vigilante groups.
“Why is it that we are complaining when almost half of us senators own guns.”
Immediately Ndume said that almost half of the senators own guns, there was uproar in the chambers.
Most the Senators demanded that Ndume should withdraw the assertion because it was harmful to the lawmakers.
Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over the plenary, described the assertion as “dangerous.”
Ekweremadu said it was dangerous for Ndume to assume that senators own firearms.
Insisting that there was no basis for the conclusion, Ekweremadu added: “I myself, I don’t have.
“Please withdraw it. I don’t have myself,” Ekweremadu said.
Ndume said: “Thank you, Mr. President. I withdraw that statement, assuming that we don’t own arms.”
Later at a news conference, Ndume said that he did not say that all senators have guns.
He noted that the fact is that some Nigerians have guns because the law allows it.
He added, “The problem we have in this country is wrong people owing guns. Guns are in wrong hands. We should be honest to ourselves. The motion should have addressed the general problem we have in the country.
“Some people are proposing state police while others say it would be abused.
“Why don’t we address the problem of abuse to forestall abuse.”
Senator Basheer Garba Mohammed (Kano Central), who sponsored that controversial motion, was adamant in his propositions.
The motion caused the near breakdown of law and order in the Senate on Wednesday when a Zamfara Senator, Kabiru Marafa, accused Mohammed of planning a motion on his state without consulting him.
Incidentally, 50 other senators were listed as co-sponsors of the motion.
Senators Mohammed Jubrilla (Adamawa North) and Ndume withdrew their sponsorship of the motion.
In his lead debate, Mohammed noted the concern of the Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar, for security challenges of the state and his efforts to solve the problem.
He noted that the decision of the governor to arm the vigilante groups in Zamfara State with rifles is capable of further jeopardising the fragile security situation in the state.
The Senate, however, adopted the prayer to request President Jonathan to deploy more security personnel to Zamfara State and other states with similar security challenges.
