Governor of Benue State on Monday reacted to the statement by former minister of defence, retired Gen. T. Y. Danjuma that Nigerians should defend themselves from possible attacks by aggressors.
DAILY POST reports that Danjuma, while speaking during the weekend at the maiden convocation ceremony of Taraba state University in Jalingo, urged Nigerians to defend themselves against ethnic cleansing.
According to him, it was regrettable that the Nigeria Army was no more neural in the fight against terrorism in the country.
Reacting, Ortom said the statement making the rounds was a misrepresentation of Danjuma’s statement.
He stated this after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday.
Ortom said “I’m not sure that if you listened to him very well. It is a misrepresentation of what the former minister said.
“He did not tell anybody to take up arms. He only said that people should protect themselves.
“Of course, you know that self-preservation is the first law of nature.
“You can’t just wait in your house and allow someone to come and kill you. You can resist the person, but you don’t necessarily need to have arms. I think that that was what the minister was saying.
“There is need for people to arise to defend themselves not necessarily using weapons that are banned. You can use a stick and disarm someone.
“Some years ago, I was able to disarm armed robbers with seven AK 47 without anything. I think that is the kind of thing he is trying to say. Nigerians should rise up to do this.
“Security matters are not just left in the hands of security men, it requires every one of us to put our heads together and be courageous to be able to surmount it,’’ he said.
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