- Says the magic wand to address insecurity was good governance as anywhere there is good governance, insecurity goes down.
Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, on Tuesday lamented how the activities of Nigerian courts, Finland-based Simon Ekpa and Prison Warders are hampering the war against terrorism, banditry and other criminalities in Nigeria.
General Musa, who spoke when he appeared before the House of Representatives alongside the three Service Chiefs and the Inspector General of Police (IGP), called for the extradition of Simon Ekpa, the self-acclaimed leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) from his operational base in Finland.
Musa, speaking of the insecurity in the South East, said: “Simon Ekpa has become a menace to this country. The country must act on it diplomatically. Finland is having a freeway encouraging him to do what he is doing. His utterances and actions are affecting what is happening in Nigeria.
“We should never allow that. Our foreign service should step in. It is either we invite the ambassador to come and explain why they are protecting him. And he is doing us more harm because by his utterances, a lot of people have been killed.”
Bemoaning how the judiciary was frustrating the war against terrorism in the country, General Musa said: “The issue of judiciary. I have been in the North-east. There were a lot of Boko Haram elements that have been captured. We have kept them for five/six years. We, the armed forces, can arrest but cannot prosecute.
“Some of them have been found wanting but no prosecution. We are keeping them for this lengthy period – everyone is accusing the armed forces in keeping them against their human rights but we cannot prosecute.
“Another aspect of the judiciary is that you use all your effort to make an arrest, you hand them over, and before you enter your vehicle, the man has been released on bail. Now, you have risked yourself in doing that, by the time he is released, he goes to tell the people the person that arrested him.
“Now your family members or you are at risk. It is getting to a state, where the security forces do not want to make any effort. We have the issue in the South-south. A lot of the ships – the last ship that was arrested, was arrested 10 years ago – the ship went and changed its name, changed its colour and came back again.
“Ten years they were arrested again. By the time you hand over the ship, before you know it, it is released. I think that is one area we must look into. We must have a special court to look into it. That is why we arrest and destroy them because the longer we keep them, it becomes a problem because we come under pressure to release them.”
The CDS, who stated that about 73 unmanned forests had been taken over by bandits in Niger State alone, revealed that some recently arrested Boko Haram terrorists in the North-east planned attacks from the prison in connivance with prison warders.
Musa decried the corrupt attitudes of some prison warders in the North-east, alleging that they aid arrested Boko Haram terrorists in planning their operations.
He stated: “The issue of correctional facilities. In the North-east, when we were debriefing some of the arrested Boko Haram, they were able to tell us how, from the prison, they could plan operations out in the field. They pass funds across.
“They use some of the warders there. We are not saying all of them are corrupt. They use their accounts and the deal is that anyone whose account is used, they share it 50/50. Those are the challenges.”
Musa lamented that media reportage in the country often glorified bandits and terrorists but demoralised soldiers.
He said, “Most times we think security is only the responsibility of security forces. I say no, everybody has a responsibility to play.
“We can never be everywhere. So we need educational sensitisation programmes for all Nigerians to understand that security is everybody’s responsibility. What you see, you talk about it. You don’t just keep quiet and say that this is for the police or the army. Everybody has a role.
“We need to have a system, where we can train from schools, from primary school, where Nigerians can be made to understand they need to take ownership of security. The awareness will be made easier.”
The defence chief said they had realised that the magic wand to address insecurity was good governance, adding that anywhere there is good governance, insecurity goes down.
He explained that security did not connote only military security, but included food, health, social, and education security, saying all these always play a role, and whenever good governance is lacking, there would be problems.
The CDS stated, “In the North-east, we are able to achieve so much because we have an element of good governance. We have seen governors that are willing and doing things to make the people happy and that is why we are having the cases of success we are having.
“As I mentioned earlier, the issue of Improvised Explosive Device (IEDs) has remained the most potent threat that we have. They put these IEDs on the ground and because there are no roads, a vehicle climbs it and everyone in that vehicle is either killed or dismembered.
“So, this becomes a problem. If people cannot eat, if people are hungry, no matter how you tell them to keep the peace, they will not and that breeds criminality. Those are the aspects we are looking at, particularly good governance.”
Musa also complained about the country’s porous borders, stressing that there are about a thousand border crossings, where people come in and out without check.
He stated, “That is where we have the movement of light weapons and small arms. Human trafficking is rampant. It is important that we must establish good border control, so that we can know the people coming in and going out.”
Musa added that Niger State alone had over 73 unmanned forests, saying these are places where non-state actors operate.
Speaking at the meeting, Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, decried the rising cost of aviation fuel, saying it is hindering the war against terrorism in the country.
He also stated that the delay in budget funding was a significant challenge, considering that about 85 per cent of Nigerian Air Force capital budget was for procuring military hardware abroad.
Air Marshal Abubakar said: “The astronomic rise in aviation fuel prices and the introduction of surcharges has adversely affected Nigerian Air Force air operations, considering its large fleet.
“The situation continues to worsen with the cost of Jet A-1 fluctuating at N1,150 per litre as against the budgeted N360 per litre. The need for an intervention fund to the Nigerian Air Force as an independent importer of Jet A-1 fuel to sustain air operations, while reducing the financial burden on the government, may thus suffice.
“The consistent delay in budget funding is a significant challenge, bearing in mind that about 85 percent of the Nigerian Air Force capital budget is for procuring military hardware abroad.
“Since hardware by original equipment manufacturers are time bound, delay in budget funding may lead to late delivery due to late payment. Timely disbursement of approved funds would surely solve this challenge.”
Abubakar further lamented the complexity in targeting terrorists within the populace, and explained that the contemporary operating environment was characterised by terrorists, who situated themselves among the general populace. He said this made targeting complex in view of the need to avoid collateral damage.
“Thus, the Nigerian Air Force kinetic operations are supported by credible intelligence to minimise undesired casualties,” he said.
The IGP, Kayode Egbetokun, lamented that the police were operating in a difficult environment, stressing that the current manpower is grossly inadequate and the criminals also know this.
He stressed that the United Nations ratio of one Police officer to 400 civilians was not attainable in Nigeria as at today, stating that the ratio in country was one to 1000, which suggested that they had to double the manpower.
Egbetokun noted: “We have 1,537 police divisional headquarters across 774 local government areas. But getting operational vehicles for the divisions is difficult.
“Each of these divisions requires at least four functional patrol vehicles. But we have divisions, which don’t have any patrol vehicles as of today.”
The IGP also told the legislators: “Training in the Police is still inadequate. The welfare of personnel is nothing to write home about. Funding is critical to achieving the mandate of the Nigeria Police.
“Unfortunately, the citizens are not interested in our excuses for underperformance. What the citizens want; they want us to serve them. We are ready to serve them. We need your cooperation. We need funding. We need more manpower.”
