According to Lt.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), terrorism serves as a cover for violent crimes including kidnapping and armed robbery.
Speaking yesterday in Abuja, Lagbaja was a guest speaker at the third counterterrorism and counterinsurgency conference hosted by the Nigerian Army Resource Centre (NARC) and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
The COAS gave a presentation titled “Over a Decade of Terrorism, Insurgency, Counter-Terrorism and Counter-Insurgency in Nigeria: An Appraisal,” represented by Maj.-Gen. Emmanuel Emekah, Deputy Chief of Operations (Army).
He stated that Nigeria was dealing with various insurgencies in all six geopolitical zones and that the perpetrators had turned to terror to further their own goals.
Citing Statista, 2023, he claimed that the nation is suggested to have one of the greatest terrorism threat levels in the world.
According to the COAS, these have been attributed to the existence of multiple terrorist and militant organisations in Nigeria, which has resulted in assaults on both military and civilian targets.
“Notable among these groups are Boko Haram and Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) in the Northeast, in pursuit of a supposedly Caliphate, initially physically but now on a digital form.
“The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in the Southeast is pursuing a breakaway agenda from the country.
“Terrorism and insurgency in Nigeria have created cover under which other crimes and violence are perpetrated by criminal gangs.
“Armed robbers have found an alibi to loot banks, while politically hired assassins operate under the cover of terrorists, like Boko Haram.
“The increasing terrorist activities of IPOB in the Southeast have heightened insecurity in the zone by giving criminals the opportunity to exploit the violent situation,” he said.
Gen. Lagbaja observed that security authorities found it challenging to track the flow of illicit monies, particularly those intended to finance terrorism, because Nigeria’s informal economy is primarily cash-based.
According to the COAS, most terrorists’ money are able to easily evade the notice of financial intelligence units and the official banking system due to the cash economy and unofficial foundation of the economy.
It is made more difficult, he continued, by the fact that Nigeria lacked a comprehensive citizen identity and information database to trace individuals.
He asserts that terrorists are now more confined to their immediate surroundings and obtain their funding from local sources, namely drug trafficking, kidnapping, extortion, and smuggling.
Gen. Lagbaja emphasised that in order to trace the funding of terrorism in the nation, agencies have to work together and adopt a comprehensive strategy.
