The Centre for Human and Socio-economic Rights, CHSR, has faulted the National Assembly over a proposed bill to provide firearms for personnel of Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC.
The National President of the CHSR, Alex Omotehinse, said this at a news conference in Lagos. Mr Omotehinse said that the bill to allow FRSC officials carry firearms had scaled second reading at the House of Representatives.
According to him, CHSR’ perspective has become imperative because of the group’s mandate and the overriding quest of civil society stakeholders to defend victims of abuse of human rights and to promote the cause of justice and peaceful co-existence.
Mr Omotehinse said, “We are compelled to address the press on the bill before the National Assembly seeking to allow the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) access to the use of firearms on duty.
“Nigeria faces the challenge of abuse of the use of arms and ammunition in the hands of security agencies in addition to the growing proliferation of arms with illegitimate access by non-state.
“The worsening threats constituted to national security by the number of agencies using arms is, to say the least, worrisome.
“Rather than seeking to grant access to FRSC officials to bear arms, we expect concerted effort at streamlining the use of arms and ammunition by security agencies towards demilitarising the society.”
He said that the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, SALW, had exacerbated insecurity.
“In addition to mopping up illegal SALW in the possession of non-state actors, government must restrict the granting of blanket approval to agencies to procure and use arms, considering the predilection for abuses by personnel.
“We, therefore, do not see the justification for granting the FRSC the approval to carry arms.
“We do not see how collective national interest would be advanced by turning the FRSC into an arm of security agencies in Nigeria,” Mr Omotehinse said.
