Borno State governor, Babagana Zulum, has raised the alarm that Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP) that is fast gaining grounds in the North-East is massively recruiting, noting that everything possible must be done to defeat it otherwise what Boko Haram did will be a child’s play.
He said that the military needs to re-strategise to defeat the insurgents that is fast becoming a threat to the entire nation.
Governor Zulum also estimated losses suffered by the North-East as a result of terrorism which has spanned over a decade at about $6.9 billion.
He said the losses included over 5,000 classrooms, 900,000 homes burnt beyond repairs, 713 energy distribution sources, as well as over 1,600 public water sources all destroyed since insurgents held the state captive.
Zulum gave these account on Thursday, while briefing State House correspondents on rehabilitation plans by the Presidential Committee on Repatriation, Return and Resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons in the North-East of Nigeria.
The governor reiterated his advice to the Federal Government to engage the services of mercenaries to put terrorism under check once and for all, adding that ISWAP was fast gaining grounds in the North-East and on the fringes of the Lake Chad.
Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari had previously opposed suggestions to hire foreign mercenaries to help prosecute the war against terrorism when it first appeared that the military personnel were losing the war.
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According to him, the negative consequences suffered from Boko Haram will be nothing compared to what ISWAP will unleash if allowed to grow.
He said one of the reasons his administration is bent on relocating the internally displaced persons (IDPs) back to their ancestral homes is because the camps are becoming a fertile ground for recruitment of foot soldiers for ISWAP.
On why he was in the habit of putting himself in harm’s way fighting terrorism in his state, he said he was not afraid to die, as long as it was not the will of God.
Zulum also cautioned that politicking for the 2023 general elections should not derail the plans or strategies of government at all levels to check insecurity.
“Our challenges, all what I have said now, would never have been feasible without the support of the government. But notwithstanding all the contributions of the Federal Government, we still have some challenges. One, I said it before, there is a growing number of ISWAP in some parts of the state and it is a matter of great concern to everybody. Why? In the shores of the Lake Chad, again in southern Borno State. Luckily enough, I was told there was more military deployment yesterday to southern Borno to fight the insurgents in Tudun Katarangwa.
“But I think this is the early warning system. We shouldn’t allow ISWAP to grow. ISWAP are more sophisticated, more funded and they’re more educated. And we shall do everything possible to defeat ISWAP. Otherwise, what Boko Haram did will be a child’s play. This is an early warning system Nigerian army has to restrategise and defeat ISWAP. ISWAP will be a threat to the entire nation. Because of the proximity of the sub-Saharan Africa, they are coming from Libya and others resettling here.
“We want clearance of the shores of the Lake Chad. Again, in conclusion, while the challenge of insecurity is being solved gradually, it is not yet over. I have said it time without numbers that in addition to what we are doing, there is a need for government to rethink and look into the possibility of hiring mercenaries. I have said it time without numbers, there’s nothing wrong. America, Britain many more countries that are stronger than Nigeria, used to seek support outside, there’s nothing wrong because this problem has been compounded. And it’s not easy for us to solve the security challenges that we’re having now.
“While Nigeria is providing a lot of things, Federal Government is buying equipment, there is the need for us to seek support from external agencies to defeat these insurgents once and for all before the matter will reach other parts of the nation. This is very important, whether we like it or not, we have an existing gaps that we need to fill and this gap by now cannot be filled without external support. While we continue to build our own institutions, training and retraining,” he stated.
He said there was need to investigate the quantum of funding that has gone into containing insurgency in the state.
He said, “Funding is critical. Yes funding to our military. Let us investigate how much have trickled down. The commanding officers are important, procurement processes are also very important. Then stronger solidarity among the security forces and sustained campaigns needed to finish up the remnants of the insurgents in the fringes of the North-East is very important.
“The resettlement needs to go hand in hand with livelihood support, more resources needed to do more for the people. Greater understanding required of the security forces to support protection, action in places of resettlement and all over Borno. The last but not the least, we must not allow the 2023 general elections to shift our attention completely away from the focus and restoration of peace in North-East and indeed other parts of the nation”.
FG Uncovers 96 Financiers Of Boko Haram, ISWAP
Meanwhile, the Federal Government on Thursday said it has uncovered 96 financiers of terrorism, including 424 associates and supporters of terrorist activities in Nigeria.
The Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohamed, who disclosed the development at a news conference in Abuja, said the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) also unmasked 123 companies and 33 bureaux de change operators linked with terrorism in the country; in addition to 26 suspected bandits/kidnappers and seven co-conspirators who have now been identified.
He said the feat was achieved between 2020 and 2021, signifying the seriousness of the Buhari administration’s fight against corruption.
Mohammed said the analysis has resulted in the arrest of 45 suspects who will soon face prosecution and seizure of assets, adding that the NFIU had intelligence exchanges on Boko Haram, ISWAP, banditry, kidnapping, and others.
He said, “For its part, the analysis by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) in 2020-2021, revealed 96 financiers of terrorism in Nigeria, 424 associates/ supporters of the financiers, involvement of about 123 companies and 33 bureaux de change, in addition to identifying 26 suspected bandits/ kidnappers and seven co-conspirators.
“The analysis has resulted in the arrest of 45 suspects who will soon face prosecution and seizure of assets. Also, from its analysis of tax evasion and tax avoidance linked to corruption, NFIU has identified N3,909,707,678,112.43 in VAT and N3,737,918,335,785.82 in Withholding Tax due to the government. NFIU has also sent 1,165 intelligence reports on cases of corruption, money laundering and other serious offences to 27 domestic agencies for investigation, prosecution and asset recovery.
“On terrorism financing, NFIU had intelligence exchanges on Boko Haram, ISWAP, banditry, kidnapping and others with 19 countries. During the same period, 2020-2021, the organisation returned fraudulently-obtained funds totalling US$103,722,102.83; 3,000 Pound Sterling; 7,695 Singapore Dollar and 1,091 Euros to 11 countries of victims who came into the country.”
Mohammed also praised the effort of the Buhari administration in identifying and plugging loopholes of financial haemorrhage.
He gave the administration a pass mark for the high recovery of slush funds and convictions of looters of public funds by its anti-graft agencies in recent years.
PDP Challenges FG To Publish Names Of Terrorism Sponsors
In the meantime, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday responded to Federal Government’s claim of uncovering 96 sponsors of terrorism and arrest of 45 persons confirmed to be terrorists.
Challenging the government to publish names of the sponsors and those arrested, the party described the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration as a government of shameless liars and barefaced thieves, who have pawned their souls to the devil.
The PDP said its position is predicated on the desperate attempt by the Buhari administration to whitewash itself by sending the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, whose stock-in-trade is well known to again assault the sensibilities of Nigerians with litany of fake claims on anti-corruption and anti-terrorism fight when in reality the Buhari administration is sinking deeper into the abyss of failure on these planks.
PDP, in a statement by its spokesman, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, said that APC administration is unsettled by the Transparency International (TI) report, which ranks Nigeria under President Buhari as the second most corrupt country in West Africa and 154 out of 180 in Global Corruption Index, given APC’s humongous corruption including the exposed looting of over N16 trillion public funds by APC leaders and their cronies in government.
“The APC government should give answers to the reported stealing of N165 billion in the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the $65 million frittered from the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) as well as the N90 billion reportedly looted from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
“This is in addition to the reported looting of N33 billion from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the reported stealing of over N18 billion from the rehabilitation of IDPs in the North-East, the over N25 billion from the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) as well as the looting of N500 billon Social Investment Programme Fund as revealed by the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, among others.
“Furthermore, in the very pathetic attempt to conceal the apparent complicity of the APC in the advent and continuing insecurity in the country, the Minister of Information and Culture laboured strenuously and claimed that the APC government has uncovered 96 sponsors of terrorism and arrested 45 persons confirmed to be terrorists.”
The party said that this development is laughable because Nigerians know that the APC administration habours within its rank a self-confessed terrorism apologist.
“Nigerians ask, if the APC cannot purge itself of a self-confessed terrorism apologist, how can it claim to have effectively confronted terrorism in the country? The PDP restates its demand to the APC to publish the names and details of those it claims to be sponsors of terrorism and those it claims to have been arrested.
“Nigerians have decoded the lying propensity of the APC and can no longer be hoodwinked. Like everything in life, the lies and propaganda of the APC at every election cycle has expiry date and as such the APC should expect the inevitable crushing verdict of the people in the 2023 elections,” the PDP said.
