Nigeria’s Defence Minister, Major General Bashir Magashi (Rtd) on Wednesday told villagers to stand and fight armed bandits instead of running away, a comment that has generated outrage from Nigerians.
Magashi, in a trending video posted by AIT, said he wonders why people should be running away from bandits, who only come with about three rounds of ammunition, only to fire shots and people ran away.
He said in their younger days, they would stand and fight aggression coming to them no matter the level of fire coming from their aggressors.
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Magashi said bandits were just mere men and that by fighting them, they would know the people have the competence and capability to defend themselves.
He, however, said it is the duty of the government to ensure that Nigerians were not hurt and that government was capable of protecting the integrity of the nation.
In his words: ‘Is it the responsibility of the military alone? It is the responsibility of everybody to keep alert and find safety when necessary.
‘But we shouldn’t be cowards, at times the bandits will come, sometimes, only come with about three rounds of ammunition and they fired shots and everybody ran.
‘In our younger days, we stand to fight aggression coming to us. I don’t know why people are running away from mere men, they should stand and let this people know that even the villagers have the competence and capability to defend themselves.
‘But our own duty to ensure no Nigerian is hurt. We are capable of protecting the integrity of this nation and we will continue to do it even though we are so stretched.’ He submitted.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
