Insecurity in Nigeria and the Right to Bear Arms by Nigerian Citizens
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Date
2019
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OBAFEMI AWOLOWO UNIVERSITY LAW JOURNAL
Abstract
Abstract
The spate ofviolence and criminality in Nigeria recently has ledto loss oflives of
many Nigerians and the apparent inability of the Nigerian government to
guarantee the safety oflives and property of its citizens informs the inquiry of this
paper on the right of the Nigerian to bear arms so as to guarantee personal
safety. In its analysis of the Nigerian Constitution, the Nigerian Firearms Act,
case laws and jurisprudential discourse on the right to bear arms from other
jurisdiction, itfinds that the right to defend one's life and propertyfrom unlawful
violence is a constitutionally guaranteed right in Nigeria. It concludes that
extant local laws and their regulations enacted to curtail this right are a breach
of the Nigerian Constitution and that the failure of the Nigeria state to safeguard
the lives and properties of its citizens activates ihe constitutional provision
providingfor the defence of one's life.