A Nigerian man, Olumide Olaniyan, has raised alarm after
spotting another man believed to be a civilian, pictured above, roaming
the streets in Nyanya, Abuja with an AK47 hung on his body. Read what
Olumide wrote belowI was driving along Mararaba-Nyanya road this
morning. I saw this man with a gun that looks like AK-47 or an automatic
gun, I initially thought he is a security personnel, but, his dress,
shoes and overall shabby look suggests otherwise.I was tempted to go ask
him about his ID card and why he was such a psychological violence to
onlookers. Then, I remembered Maama Sunde's counsel those days I used to
do student activism at the University of Bariga, "ma se subolation si
oro oloro, [don't interfere in other people's matter, face yours]". I
felt that it is my business to ensure that there is safety and security
in the land. I felt like questioning this dangerous looking man, on
behalf of Nigeria. But, my sense talked to my brain, they both forced me
to drive on. I will never know if the man is a vigilante, or a state
security personnel. That certainly was not a Dane gun. That clothing was
not a security personnel uniform. An undercover agent won't expose
himself with an automatic gun in public. Our country is currently a
fragile state, no onewho isn't a security personnel, should be allowed
to move around with arms which may distress others.Could this man be one
of those so called Malian herdsmen that have flooded Tangaza LGA and
other areas in Sokoto state? Nigeria needs to protect its territories
from (possible) internal and external aggression. When people just walk
along, unbothered with this kind of an uninformed and ununiformed man in
their midst, it means we are drifting towards Hobbesian Democracy...
