A DAP lawmaker has called for the government to empower Sabahans with arms, in order to resolve the security issue at the coastal area.

The Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) should be dissolved as it had failed its mission in protecting the people, said DAP's Sri Tanjong state assemblyperson Chan Foong Hin.

This comes after the Associated Press reported a German national was kidnapped and his girlfriend killed when the Abu Sayyaf militant group stormed their yacht which was travelling in Sabah waters.