The Minister of Information Alhaji Lai Mohammed last Thursday in Abuja said the government has uncovered 96 financiers of terrorist groups, Boko Haram and the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP).
“Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), which exchanges intelligence on Boko Haram, ISWAP with 19 countries in 2020-2021, revealed 96, financiers of terrorism Mohammed said. The minister further disclosed that 424 associates and supporters of the financiers were also uncovered.
Mohammed said about 123 companies and 33 Bureau de change were linked to terrorists in addition to 26 suspected bandits/kidnappers and seven co-conspirators who have now been identified. He disclosed that an “analysis has resulted in the arrest of 45 suspects who will soon face prosecution and seizure of assets.” The Minister however did not disclose the names of the people he accused.
Meanwhile, authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in September named meanwhile six Nigerians with ties to Boko Haram as terrorist financiers. Nigerians on the UAE’s terrorism list were Abdurrahaman Ado Musa, Salihu Yusuf Adamu, Bashir Ali Yusuf, Muhammed Ibrahim Isa, Ibrahim Ali Alhassan and Surajo Abubakar Muhammad.
The six persons have been previously tried and sentenced in UAE. The UAE Cabinet issued Resolution No 83 of 2021, designating a total of 38 individuals and 15 entities on its approved list of persons and organisations supporting Boko Haram and other terrorist causes.
The resolution demands that regulatory authorities monitor and identify any individuals or entities affiliated with or associated with any financial, commercial or technical relationship and take the necessary measures according to the laws in force in the country in less than 24 hours.
In April 2019, an Abu Dhabi federal court of appeal sentenced both Surajo Abubakar Muhammad and Saliuh Yusuf Adamu to life imprisonment followed by deportation.
Ibrahim Ali Alhassan, AbdurRahman Ado Musa, Bashir Ali Yusuf and Muhammad Ibrahim Isa, were each sentenced to 10 years in prison, and also followed by deportation.
The court found them guilty of setting up a Boko Haram cell in the UAE to raise funds and material assistance for the insurgents in Nigeria.
If deported to Nigeria, our government has not deemed it fit to let us know their fate in our country today. They may have been set free. Who knows?
In Nigeria such weighty statements as the Minister made may not be taken seriously. Sometimes they are taken as a joke because the talkative officials make them and just forget that they ever made them. Only last December, the National Security Adviser, Major General Babagana Monguno, identified three groups sponsoring the activities of terrorist organisations in Nigeria and the Sahel.
Monguno listed the groups to include Jama’at Nasr al-Islam Wal Muslimin, the Islamic and Muslim Support Group and Islamic State in Greater Sahara.
He urged Islamic preachers and Imams to use their exalted positions to rally support for ongoing counter-terrorism fight, observing that the alliances between the clerics and security forces should be the backbone to rebuilding terrorism infested communities in the country.
He said: “Terrorism and the rapid escalation of violent activities by militant Islamist groups in the Sahel since 2016 have been primarily driven by the Islamic State in Greater Sahara, which mainly operates in Mali and extends to Niger Republic and Burkina Faso.
“The situation in the Sahel has never been grimmer, extremist violence continues to spread; the number of internally displaced persons is growing; and food insecurity is affecting more people than ever before. There are several not entirely congruent working hypotheses underpinning foreign and regional government strategies.”
According to him, the international community and its Sahelian partners should prioritise governance, press for or pursue an expanded peace process cautiously through dialogue, and push for the adoption of more non-kinetic measures through affected communities.
“The adoption of both kinetic and non-kinetic approaches by LCBC countries to stem the conflict has yielded tremendous success.
“The adoption of propaganda videos by terrorist groups to project themselves as contending powers in the region is a mere attempt to garner support from sympathisers, as they struggle to maintain relevance. Thus, it is assessed that while the groups maintain the long-term strategic goal of creating a caliphate, the efforts of LCBC countries will continue to frustrate that goal.
Even as I write, Mongonu has not deemed it necessary to inform the world of what has happened to the groups and individuals he accused of the high crime of terrorism. He is the chief adviser on security matters to the President, Commander in Chief of Nigerian Armed Forces, Muhammadu Buhari. Unless he tells us not do so, we are bound to take his words are serious matter.
Terrorism as we are experiencing it today came to Nigeria in 2009 when Umaru Yar adua was President. On his way out of Nigeria, he told us that he had ordered the military to deal with the Boko Haram members who were disturbing the peace in Maiduguri in a summary military way. Sadly, he soon fell sick and died. Since then, things have gotten worse.
The country heaved a sigh of relief when President Goodluck who took over from Yaradua when he died was booted out in 2015 by popular vote. The man who trounced him at that election was a retired army general who had ruled Nigeria before as a Military head of State. We had hoped that using his experience as a war tested general and military Head of State, he would soon bring to heel those tormenting the country in the North East.
Sadly things have gotten worse. Whatever successes may have been achieved by the military in the North East, Boko Haram is still there. The insecurity they initiated in the North East has suddenly taken a federal character, spreading to all the six geo political zones of the country. Not long ago, the President himself threw up his arms in frustration saying he is overwhelmed by the security situation in the North West while paying a sympathy visit to the Sultan. In Sokoto, 23 hapless travelers were incarnated as their murderers stood aside to enjoy the horror.
As the security situation degenerates the terrorists continue to dehumanize us further. A five year old lovely looking girl was poisoned to death by her teacher in Kano using rat poison and an unnamed car dealer in Gusau Zamfara was alleged to have killed and eaten a nine year old boy.
These are some of the stories that make us angry when men in top positions as Lai Mohammed and General Mongonu treat terrorists with kid gloves. How low can we go?
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