A former minister of Defence, Theophilus Danjuma, has again called on Nigerians to take up arms and defend themselves against terrorists and bandits.
The retired army general made the call at the presentation of staff of office to Aku-Uka of Wukari in Taraba State, Manu Ishaku Adda Ali, on Saturday.
Mr Danjuma, whose similar call in 2018 sparked criticism, alleged that the country is under siege by foreign terrorists who are taking over people’s land.
“As a soldier, the best defence is attack. Right now, we are all sitting ducks. These people are armed to the teeth with weapons of mass destruction, but we don’t have them.
“We have the numbers and the land belongs to us. They are trying to colonise us and take over our lands. Your majesty, you must unite our people to defend themselves,” he said.
While calling on the people to find out where the terrorists are getting weapons to terrorize innocent citizens, Mr Danjuma noted that he won’t provide arms to anyone.
“I will not give you arms. Find out how the people who have it got it and use the same means to acquire arms and defend yourselves. This beautiful land called Nigeria is being brought to ruin by absolutely useless criminals. How do they get here? We know some of them may even be here. My prayer is that God Almighty that has given us this land will give us the courage to face these enemies and chase them out. This we must do, otherwise, Nigeria is finished.
“We must find out the source of the arms of terrorists; Nigerians should equally find a means of arming themselves to face the terrorists,” he said.
He said when he accused the military of complicity in 2018, he was accused of making false claims without evidence, adding that the result is very clear for everyone to see.
“My appeal to you the new Aku Uka is for you to unite us to be able to effectively defend ourselves against the enemies of the country.
“In 2018 when I called on the people to defend themselves, a kangaroo commission of enquiry was set up to investigate and they said I was lying because there was no evidence.
“Today in the country, there is evidence everywhere; the foreign bandits are killing and taking over lands in all the places,” he said.
On his part, the Taraba State governor, Darius Ishaku, while presenting the staff of office to the Aku Uka, urged him to unite his subjects for a peaceful prosperous kingdom and state.
