Senate Urges FG to Amend Firearms Law, Allow Responsible Nigerians Bear Arms as Security Crisis Worsens Nationwide

The Nigerian Senate has intensified pressure on the Federal Government to adopt a radical measure in response to the country’s security collapse, urging an urgent amendment to the nation’s firearms laws to permit trained, responsible citizens to bear arms for self-defence.

The controversial recommendation was part of a resolution passed yesterday, Wednesday, November 26, 2025, during a special plenary session where lawmakers from both chambers declared the nation’s security situation to be near its breaking point.

The lawmakers argued that with terrorists and bandits now overwhelming state forces and operating with impunity in large swathes of the country, citizens must be granted the means to protect themselves and their families.

“Nigerians must be allowed the right to carry firearms to defend themselves,” stated a Senator, echoing the collective sentiment that the police force is grossly inadequate and under-equipped to tackle the current menace. “We must make an honest admission to ourselves that the security agents cannot really protect lives and properties as enshrined in the Constitution.”

Strict Regulations Proposed

The Senate’s call gives a major push to a pending bill sponsored by Senator Ned Nwoko (Delta North), which seeks to create a framework for civilian firearm ownership, not through open market access, but through a strictly regulated process.

Senator Nwoko’s bill proposes that any citizen seeking a firearm licence must first attend a mandatory gun shooting school in their Local Government Area, obtain certificates of mental fitness from two doctors, and be cleared by both the police and their local traditional ruler.

While the recommendation is expected to trigger intense public debate, lawmakers stressed that the move is an act of desperation born from the failure of conventional security responses. Alongside the call for expanded gun rights, the Senate also recommended that the Federal Government launch a comprehensive security intervention in Kwara, Kebbi, and Niger States, and mandated that kidnapping must attract the death penalty to serve as an ultimate deterrent to abductors.