Should we attack intruders?

Chronic poverty pushes some into resorting to criminal behaviour

John Jok Matiop has written to Have Your Say from Sudan, where he is having trouble with intruders.

Burglaries are common in many African countries. The police response may be slow or non-existent.

Jon wonders whether it is acceptable to attack someone who is trespassing on his property.

Are you in Africa? Have you had intruders on your property? How would you handle a burglar in your home? Should we attack trespassers? And how far should the law go to protect us if we do?

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This debate is now closed. Thank you for your comments.

Your comments:

Yes, it is necessary we attack them because here in Liberia, you need to be self defensive now because the police not properly equip and trained to protect us, I don't want to know about what the law might, to protect my self properly.
William, Monrovia, Liberia

I do not live in Africa any longer but living there, we did suffer and my family has suffered burglaries from the hands of others. I guess i view burglary as a thing that some people resort to in attempt to feed themselves. I do not condone it because in my view it is not right. But sometimes when you have such a society like Nigeria for instance where the rich don't care about the poor but are only content to keep on amassing wealth to the detriment of other.. what else will you expect. But what we have nowadays according to my mother in Nigeria is where burglary is not enough for those perpetrating the offence, they also kill the victims- that part i don't understand.
Fatima, Glasgow, Scotland

It is a game ranger and poacher race where who so ever that sees the other first strikes. Burglars are highly sophisticated nowadays and when ever they invade your home just know they do not leave any stone unturned and that is why when they caught they are punished severely.
Francis, Kitwe, Zambia

Wishing I have access to a gun, I can afford it and can pay the license fee, but I am handicapped by the Christian doctrine of "Thou shall not kill" I have had to suffer in response to criminal activities perpetrated in Lagos, I believe the bible so much that killing over material thing which we all definitely leave someday is a hard response to intruders. "He who steals my purse steals nothing, it was mine, now his; and has been a slave to many".
Macaulay, Lagos, Nigeria

A home is like the womb. It is the one place where we should feel and be safe. Like the womb it should be inviolable. If you break into someone's home you surrender your right to be classed as a human and must prepare to be dealt with like a virus. A man's home is his castle.
Richard, Tete, Mozambique

Well, I would say it is very African to welcome any "intruder", it might be a distant uncle, aunt or any relation. However, as we are fast becoming "Westerners", I wouldn't be surprised if the intruder is always assumed a thief before being proven a friend.
Hankie, Lilongwe, Malawi

In Africa, home robbery is common and the police do little or nothing about it, in some cases if u report to police u are looking for more trouble especially in Nigeria. My suggestion is that AU should legalise the carrying of pistols in Africa an armed robber will be mindful of the repercussion. Let us protect ourselves a little.
Gmelinaface, AkwaIbom state, Nigeria

Trespassers should be prosecuted either by law or one´s hand
Zeferino, Maputo, Mozambique

All we need is to close our differences that we have created in between by helping one another. Many peoples are being left underground by those who make it to the sky and they never want to bring them up. As a human we should think that whatever we do is what comes back to us.
Lual, Melbourne, Australia

Burglars should really be eliminated. The indirect dangers are that they create insecurity among the society and they teach other young people that they can live with out working (by just harming people). Police should do anything to avoid this useless but harmful part of the society. I can say that the Police does well in this case in my country.

Amare, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

If you attack an intruder, you are reducing society to the status of might is right. We've spent hundreds of years developing beyond that and, anyway, he might be bigger than you!
Tom, Exeter, UK

In South Sudan, this is where every thing is possible. No rules of law nor police protection in place, robbers are defended by police. when you are attacked, you have to make sure you have muscles otherwise you will watch your things being taken away.
John, Rumbek, Sudan

Intruders, specifically burglars should be shot. I don't assume they are intruding or burglarizing just to come shake your hands.
Okupa, Kaduna, Nigeria

I lived in Ghana for 7 years, homes around me were robbed by intruders, I was robbed myself by the people I employed in my home. It is very scary as you know there is no police response and so you are left to your own means. We had watchmen dogs and wire on our high walls around our home, bars at doors and windows in fact it was like living in prison, we also fitted an alarm. There are now companies who have watchmen and response teams but they are very expensive, I believe that if someone is attacking your home you have every right to protect it no matter by what means!
Mama, UK

It is a crime to trespass but if one attacks the trespassers then you will be taken the law into your hand. Violence cannot solve problems at all. We should attack trespassers thru the court of competent jurisdiction. Two wrongs cannot make a right. Attacking the intruder could cause the loss of your life or that of someone else.
George, Voinjama, Liberia

To the Best of My Knowledge, it is only the State Owned Properties one should here in Cameroon be afraid of Trespassing. Private owned 'Warning signs' may be out-dated...or the particular territories abandoned. Actually, here in Cameroon, it is really BY-SIGHT that one will tell if Trespassing is Risky or not. The most common Warning sign in Cameroon is : 'Do Not Urinate HERE!!!'
Paul, Buea, Cameroon

Attacking trespassers? We find it very hard. For instance here in Cameroon, people feel free, see nothing bad in trespassing in people's court-yards, using fences of private homes as toilets, the most common for neighbouring homes is using people's properties without permission and frequent entering houses, which is seen as ignorance and lack of manners.
Arnaud, Yaounde, Cameroon

I think we should because the court of law which is expected to address these issues do not. People are just too frustrated with the slow pace of cases that has to do with trespassers.
Murtala, Freetown, Sierra Leone

I was a victim of a home invasion - by 5 masked guys armed with axes and pangas. Mungiki thugs likely from Kenya. How can I fight them even if I had a gun? Hand over what they want. In my case money, laptop, camera. Let it go. Better that than my life. Police do little or nothing.
Lost In Arusha, Tanzania

Intruders should be eliminated from society....permanently.
Rick, Lewisville, USA

I live in Accra, Ghana. Recently a group of armed robbers with AK-47's forced their way into my house; they took valuables and money, slapped around my guard, wife and kids. This has been happening a lot recently among the civilian population in Accra Ghana. Some speculate it is political because of the timing (There has been a large surge of robberies since NDC took power only five months ago), lack of police protection, and the nature of the robberies. Citizens should be allowed to shoot an intruder without any interference from the law. What other choice does one have if the state will not protect the people?
Expat in Ghana, Accra, Ghana

I was attacked in my house in Botswana some time ago. Although I managed to hit the 3 attackers out of the house with a tennis racket, I got knocked down after I fled the house to yell for help. Poor infrastructure and poverty are the main ingredients for crime.

Johan, Woerden, Netherlands

Too right. If someone is on your property without your permission then his or her intentions are not honourable and as such they should be forced to leave. In Africa the Police are not well known for their diligence and are often corrupt, so taking the law into your own hands is often the only way.
Tony, UK

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