Buhari’s order: Police, soldiers to shoot Amotekun operatives found with AK-47 rifles — Miyetti Allah

The order President Muhammadu Buhari gave security agencies to shoot anyone seen with AK-47 rifles also affects “Amotekun and other ethnic militias,” Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore Association claims.

Presidential spokesperson Garba Shehu disclosed in an interview with the BBC on Wednesday that Buhari had ordered that anyone seen with AK-47 should be shot.

He added that the President had directed a clampdown on bandits who had refused to surrender.

On the efforts being made to rid Zamfara and other northern states of bandits, Shehu said the government was resorting to lethal force.

Miyetti Allah said that it does not have any problem with the order because its herders do not carry AK-47 rifles.

“First and foremost, our members don’t carry AK-47 riles,” Miyetti Allah national secretary Saleh Alhassan told Sahara Reporters.

“But if you have criminals that carry weapons, they are not state actors. So, if the President who is the Commander-in-Chief and whose responsibility it is to ensure law and order in the country, has given a directive, we should comply.

“(The order affects) everyone, including vigilantes and Amotekun. I don’t think any law permits any non-state actor to carry AK-47 rifles.

“Since they started going after herdsmen in South-West, have they arrested anybody or have they killed anybody in the forests? At least, we should see their corpses. They are just displacing innocent herders.

“Amotekun officials should by this order stop carrying AK-47 rifles. It is implied…all these ethnic militias.

“When they say people are carrying AK-47 rifles, they are non-state actors and the government has waited for so long. Even those who got licences, did they get license for AK-47 rifles or just for pump action and dane guns?”