By Ismail Dunmoye
Former American president, Ronald Reagan said and I quote; “self defense is not only our right; it’s our duty”. Reagan states that not only are humans granted a civil right to defend ourselves, but that it is our duty to do so.
The menace of terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, herdsmen attack and other vices has increased geometrically over the years with Nigerians loosing their lives and properties. A recent report by the Amnesty international shows that no fewer than 1430 people were killed and 537 others kidnapped in the first quarter of 2025.
The Nigerian security agencies have at various times and fora explained how these dare devils operates and how citizens can be watchful to avoid being victims. These warnings becomes important due to the incessant attacks faced by Nigerians.
Section 33 of the 1999 constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria as amended guarantees the right to life. This section states that “every person has a right to life and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life”. By implication, every citizen has the right to defend themselves against attack if faced with one or seek a way of escape in such situations. But a major concern is that we must be able to differentiate between these attacks and lawful arrests by security agencies. We must be able to differentiate between security agencies and bandits, armed robbers, kidnappers and terrorists. It’s not news that these dare devils sometimes put on uniforms of our security agencies to disguise and attack unsuspecting citizens. They also use hoods and masks to avoid being identified by their victims.
Now the unfortunate part is our security agencies using the same masks while on lawful duty. In a new and dangerous trend, they use it while on security detail of political office holders and VIPs, on check points and even while making lawful arrests. The question is why should they conceal their identity while carrying out a constitutional role for which they are being paid with tax payers monies. The most disturbing and alarming of all is during arrests. Constitutionally and procedurally an arresting officer must properly identify his or herself, read the accused his rights before being taken away. In saner climes a suspect can be freed in court if these procedures of arrest were not strictly followed by the arresting officer. Recent occurrences shows that Nigerians are being arrested by men in hoods, without identification, carrying arms in a gestapo manner suggestive that such person was being abducted. Sometimes suspects are taken away for days without any communication thereby creating apprehension among family members.
The case of last month’s arrest of Martin Vincent Otse popularly known VeryDarkMan is a perfect example. Multiple eye witnesses said he was taken by men in plane clothes, wearing masks. They were said to have blindfolded him without identifying themselves or indicating which agency they work for or where he was being taken to. It was later discovered that he was taken by the EFCC who did not release any official statement as to his whereabouts or why he was arrested until the third day.
The Nigerian government and security agencies need to come out and address this issue. In a bid to exercise our fundamental human right to life and self defense as enshrined in the constitution, Nigerians needs to be able to properly differentiate between a thief, armed robber, kidnappers, bandits, terrorists and security agents performing their lawful duties. Their modus operandi cannot and should not have any form of similarities.
In as much as we will wish to exercise our self defense rights, we don’t want to be accused or seen as resisting lawful arrests.
Security agencies should not scale our fences and forcefully breakdown our doors in the dead of the night in the name of arrests. If my door is being pulled down in the middle of the night, the first and most important thing I should be thinking about is how to protect my life and that of my family and not trying to figure out if they are assailants or security agencies.
DUNMOYE writes from Ilorin,Kwara State and can be reached at Dunmoyeismail13@gmail.com
