Islam Allows Individuals To Protect Themselves, Masari Justifies Self-Defence

The Governor of Katsina State, Aminu Masari, has said the reason he has continued to advocate self-defence in the face of rising insecurity in the state was due to the fact that Islam as a religion, allowed a person to protect himself and his family against any form of attacks.

Masari, who promised to assist the people of the state to acquire weapons in self-defence, however, said if anyone died while protecting himself and his family, he would have died a martyr.

According to a BBC Hausa report, Masari, while discussing with journalists in Katsina, said the number of police operatives in the state was less than 3,000, and assured the people that government would assist citizens, who would want to acquire arms so as to contribute to restoring the security situation.

“Security is everybody’s affair, irrespective of political differences. What the public should know is that in Katsina, you don’t have 3000 police. Therefore, we are calling on whoever wants to protect himself and his family to acquire arms.

“The religion of Islam has allowed a person to protect himself and his property and family. If you die in the course of protecting yourself, you die a martyr. The annoying fact is that bandits have access to guns and good people don’t have access to these guns with which they can use to protect themselves and their families,” he said.

Promising to assist any person, who would like to acquire arms in order to stop banditry, Masari said, “We will assist those who want to bring in arms because there is a need for the people of Katsina to support the security agents.”

He, however, criticised the activities of some vigilantes, saying, “We do not trust the activities of vigilantes, because they are leaving their places of origin to other towns. We prefer people defending their places of origin themselves.”