Users And Uses of Firearms in Calabar Province, 1917 – 1960
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Abstract
This study investigates the users and uses of firearms in Calabar Province between 1917 and 1960. During this period, it appeared that a significant number of indigenous people of Calabar Province became users of firearms, which served their varied firearm needs, including the use of firearms to achieve some political, economic and socio-cultural needs of the people of the province. Firearms were also utilised by some indigenous people of the province for varied purposes, including the utilisation of firearms for various constructive and destructive engagements. This study deployed the historical research design of the qualitative approach in analysing available historical evidence used in the study, while relying on primary sources of evidence complemented with secondary sources of evidence. The primary evidence includes Archival materials, memorandum and circulars on firearm users and uses in Calabar Province from the National Archives Calabar (NAC). The secondary sources of evidence are drawn from the analysis and interpretation of primary evidence, which include book chapters, journals, articles, research papers, newspapers and magazines relating to Calabar Province on the users and uses of firearms. The Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, Journal of African History, among others, served as the most vital journal outlets for obtaining evidence for the study. The findings of the study show that the technical potency of firearms captivated the attention of indigenous people of the province, leading to the emergence of numerous licensed and unlicensed users of firearms, as well as the multiple utilizations of firearms by indigenous people to satisfy their firearm needs in the province. Therefore, it is apt to say that the technical potency of firearms captivated the attention of indigenous people of the province, resulting in a significant number of firearm users who utilised firearms for varied purposes during the colonial era.
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