The Presidency, on Thursday, released a video showing President Muhammadu Buhari ordering security agents to shoot on sight, any civilian seen with AK-47 rifle.
The Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said on March 3, 2021 that his principal gave specific orders to military commanders to shoot any civilian bearing AK-47 rifle.
While some Nigerians including Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, had commended the President for issuing the order, other persons like the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Ndudi Elumelu, said Buhari should have handed down the order himself.
Perhaps to dissipate doubt, the Presidency through its official Twitter handle, @NGRPresident, on Thursday, released a 14-second video clip showing the President issuing the order.
In the clip, the President said, “Anybody with AK-47 should be shot because AK-47 is supposed to be registered and it is only given to security officials.”
Of late, there have been serious concerns over the activities of AK-47-brandishing herdsmen terrorising parts of the country, especially the South-West zone.
The Benue State governor and his Bauchi State counterpart, Bala Mohammed, had clashed recently on whether herders should wield AK-47 or not. Mohammed had said the herders use the rifles for self-defence while Ortom disagreed that the herders use the weapons to wreak havoc on host communities. The two governor of the Peoples Democratic Party, however, resolved the issue and embraced peace.