Security agents have been issued presidential order to arrest and illegal bearers of arms.

The directive was sequel to Thursday’s National Security Council meeting attended by President Muhammadu Buhari, Defence Minister Monsur Dan-Ali and the service chiefs.

Giving an update on the meeting on his Twitter handle yesterday, Buhari said his government was “stepping up our efforts to tackle the proliferation of small arms and light weapons across the country.”

“The security agencies already have standing instructions to arrest and prosecute anyone found with illegal arms,” he added.

Sights of Fulani herdsmen going about with AK 47 and reports of their wanton killings of Nigerians have sparked outrage across the land.

Benue State recently buried 73 victims of such attacks, followed by Taraba State where scores of people were also killed.

Buhari’s government has been widely criticised for looking the other way while herdsmen went on the rampage.

However, the Minister of Defence, Dan-Ali, emerging from Thursday’s NSC meeting, told reporters that the killings in parts of the country could not be blamed solely on herdsmen, because according to him, “there are also militias who also carry arms.”

He added: “Some people were caught with arms and they call themselves Forest Guards or whatever with AK47.

“There is nowhere in this country where arms are allowed to be carried apart from legitimate security forces.

So, anybody carrying any arm is doing so illegally.”

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