Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has urged the Federal Government to grant licences to responsible citizens to carry sophisticated weapons such as AK47 as part of measures to curb the rise in insecurity in the country.

However, the policy should be backed by a strict legal framework to prevent illegal possession of arms by the citizenry without exception.

Ortom made these submissions in a paper he presented on Tuesday during a virtual meeting convened by the Centre for Values in Leadership, in collaboration with Nigeria Governors’ Forum.

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In the paper, which was titled ‘Insecurity and Governance Challenges in the New Normal’, Ortom said governments at all levels must come to terms with the fact that insecurity is a real threat to the development of the country and must be willing to sincerely tackle the menace.

He also recommended adequate funding of security agencies and continuous training of their personnel to enable them to be abreast of global dynamics in the fight against insecurity.

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Ortom urged the Federal Government to embrace ranching as it remained the global best practice of animal husbandry, adding that it was also important for the apex government to enact a law to end open grazing.

According to the statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, Ortom also advocated improved educational standards and enhanced public enlightenment campaigns to give the people, particularly youths the needed orientation to shun negative acts and become more patriotic.

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