THE Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, has said that terrorism has provided cover for other crimes such as political assassination, kidnapping, armed robbery and other violent acts to thrive.
Lagbaja said this at the 3rd Counter-terrorism and Counter-insurgency Seminar organised by the Nigerian Army Resource Centre (NARC), in collaboration with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA0, yesterday, in Abuja.
Represented by the Deputy Chief of Operations (Army), Maj.-Gen. Emmanuel Emekah, Lagbaja delivered a paper titled, ‘Over a Decade of Terrorism, Insurgency, Counter-Terrorism and Counter-Insurgency in Nigeria: An Appraisal’.
He said that Nigeria was facing different forms of insurgencies in the six geo-political zones, adding that those involved had resorted to the use of terror in the pursuit of their agendas.
Quoting the Statista 2023 report, he noted that Nigeria has one of the highest terrorism threat levels in the world. This has been blamed on the fact that several terrorist and militant groups are active in Nigeria, leading to attacks on both civilian and military targets.
“Notable among these groups are; Boko Haram and Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) in the North-East in pursuit of a supposed Caliphate initially physically, but now in a digital form.
“The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in the South-East pursuing a break away 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,” he said.
“The increasing terrorist activities of IPOB in the South East has heightened insecurity in the zone by giving criminals the opportunity to exploit the violent situation,’’ he said.
Lagbaja said the largely cash-based and informal economy operated in Nigeria had made it difficult for security agencies to trace the movement of illicit funds, especially funds meant for funding terror.
He said that synergy among agencies and a whole Government Approach was required to be able to track funding of terrorism in the country.
COAS also advocated for provision of good governance, unflinching sense of patriotism and pride in the country and enhanced capacity of security and law enforcement agencies to adequately analyse the security challenges. (NAN)
