{"id":159609,"date":"2025-04-16T12:21:56","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T11:21:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/otukpo-killings-self-defense-is-now-inevitable-lawmaker-angbo-calls-for-community-protection-amid-attacks"},"modified":"2025-04-16T20:15:31","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T19:15:31","slug":"otukpo-killings-self-defense-is-now-inevitable-lawmaker-angbo-calls-for-community-protection-amid-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/otukpo-killings-self-defense-is-now-inevitable-lawmaker-angbo-calls-for-community-protection-amid-attacks","title":{"rendered":"Otukpo killings: Self-defense is now inevitable \u2013 Lawmaker, Angbo calls for community protection amid attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Hon Kennedy Angbo, the lawmaker representing Otukpo\/Akpa State Constituency in the Benue State House of Assembly, has made a call for the legalisation and empowerment of community-based self-defense systems to protect residents against persistent killings.<\/p>\n<p>Hon Angbo made the remarks during an interview with Channels TV in Abuja following the brutal attack on Otobi-Akpa community, where 11 people, including children and elderly residents, were reportedly killed by suspected herders.<\/p>\n<p>Describing the situation in Benue as a \u201cstate of war,\u201d the lawmaker decried what he termed the \u201csystemic ethnic cleansing\u201d and \u201cattempted annexation\u201d of Benue lands by violent non-state actors.<\/p>\n<p>According to him, the recent spate of attacks in Otukpo and other parts of the state confirms that the current security architecture is overstretched and ineffective in preventing such tragedies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSelf-defense is no longer optional. It is now inevitable,\u201d Hon. Angbo declared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur people must be empowered to protect themselves. Communities should not be left at the mercy of marauders.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He called for urgent legislative backing that would allow for the arming, training and recognition of community vigilante groups to respond swiftly and effectively to threats.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSecurity agents cannot be everywhere at the same time, and these attackers come in coordinated waves from different flanks. What we need now is a legal framework that allows communities to defend their homes and farmlands,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Angbo also revealed that before the most recent attack, a social media post allegedly made by one Ahmed Bashir had threatened imminent violence a warning that, unfortunately, materialized days later.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDespite repeated warnings and signals, the necessary security presence was not established in time to prevent this horror,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is no time for rhetoric. We need legislative courage and executive action to defend our people. We must make self-defense lawful or prepare to keep counting our dead,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Nigeria<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. Hon Kennedy Angbo, the lawmaker representing Otukpo\/Akpa State Constituency in the Benue State House of Assembly, has made a call for the legalisation and empowerment of community-based self-defense systems to protect residents against persistent killings. Hon Angbo made the remarks during an interview with Channels TV in Abuja following the brutal attack [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":159608,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,30],"tags":[331,16897,254,7080],"class_list":["post-159609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-benue","tag-kennedy-angbo","tag-nigeria","tag-otukpo"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Otukpo killings: Self-defense is now inevitable \u2013 Lawmaker, Angbo calls for community protection amid attacks - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Hon Kennedy Angbo, the lawmaker representing Otukpo\/Akpa State Constituency in the Benue State 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