Retired generals from the Nigerian Army, Navy, and Air Force have attributed the persistent insurgency and violent crimes in the country to the activities of certain non-governmental organizations (NGOs), international agencies, and other vested interests.
These revelations come as the nation grapples with the prolonged war against Boko Haram and other terror groups.
The Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, recently urged the Federal Government to involve the United Nations in investigating the inflow of arms into Nigeria.
Henzodaily reports that he emphasized the need to determine how sophisticated weapons continue to reach terrorists and bandits despite the military’s sustained efforts.
“The armed forces have neutralized many terrorists and recovered thousands of weapons, yet their armory seems replenished. It’s imperative to unravel the supply chains,” Musa stated.
The CDS’s comments were in response to criticisms from segments of society questioning the effectiveness of military operations against insurgency, given the substantial budgetary allocations.
In a statement on Tuesday, retired military officers, including former theatre commanders, General Officers Commanding (GOCs), and operational commanders of the Nigerian Air Force, weighed in on the issue.
They identified the roles of certain NGOs and international agencies as contributing factors to the prolonged conflict.
A former GOC, I Division who spoke Vanguard said, “Having been involved in the fight against terrorism and banditry that spilt into the North-West, Niger and Kogi states which were my Divisional Area of Responsibility as at then, I would say what the CDS said is quite true.
“It’s a known fact that external and internal non-state players are deeply entrenched in the spate of violence and banditry in Northern Nigeria.
“In the recent past, several arrests of financiers of insurgency and terrorism were made. Their funding source was traced to the Middle East.
“The UAE government was pivotal in assisting Nigeria in apprehending quite a number of them. Unfortunately, these arrests were enmeshed in political controversy, as they were not prosecuted and punished.
“That aside, Boko Haram has festered for almost 15 years, largely due to religious indoctrination of young, uneducated men and women. The end game is to destabilize the country, especially the North West and North-East to control vast space full of valuable human and mineral resources to fund and expand terrorism across the country.
“We must also recognize that these criminal organizations with networks across the globe are bent on having a foothold in the Sahel region, especially Nigeria.”
The former GOC lamented that the lack of jobs, under-development and other social inadequacies provide oxygen for terrorists to keep recruiting the youths.
He lamented over the number of out-of-school children and the highest levels of illiteracy in Nigeria.
He said, “There is also gross social inadequacies or failures of some sort by the sub-nationals in the region. Lack of jobs, under-development, poor healthcare and education for the millions of young people provides oxygen for these terrorists to keep recruiting the youths.
“It is estimated that the Northern region harbours millions of out-of-school children and the highest levels of illiteracy in Nigeria.
“While the military continues to effectively contain and degrade these organizations, the state governments must marshal resources to rapidly improve the people’s economy so they could have good alternatives to earning a living, rather than be recruited by criminal organizations.
“The military, CBN and security agencies must continually apply technology to keep blocking funding which is not easy to do without international support and assistance.
“The CBN’s decision to revoke thousands of licenses of several bureaux de change was a good step. The National Financial Intelligence Unit must aggressively step up tracking of terrorists’ funding into the country. Interpol and the contiguous countries must continually be engaged to destroy terrorist cells.
“I have often argued that there must be regulation of religious teachings across the country. We have a lax system which enables any group to set up mosques or churches without regulatory approval. It is a dangerous trend that must be legislated on by NASS or a Presidential Executive Order to check it.
“The Ministry of Justice and the Office of the National Security Adviser must prosecute all criminals and make it public. Additionally, Nigeria must speedily introduce state police to expand security coverage across the country. Our current central policing cannot address the insecurity of over 250 million people.”