“Who’s Funding Them”? — Defence Minister Identifies ‘The Oxygen’ Fueling Insecurity

By Rotela Oguns

Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa, rtd, has identified some of the factors making the fight against banditry, terrorism and allied insurgency appear unfruitful.

Musa noted that insecurity continues to fester and appears insurmountable because some people are undermining the efforts of the military to rid the country of the perennial problem for monetary and other gains.

The minister made this assertion while speaking at the June 12 edition of The Platform, organised by The Covenant Nation in Lagos,

According to Musa, the problem persists in the country partly because criminal groups receive support from individuals within local communities.

“Banditry, insurgency, terrorism. Why does it seem so difficult to deal with it? Perhaps, we have the people that are also encouraging and supporting these things from happening because the terrorists, the bandits, survive around the people.

“There are several stories of how people have aided them in giving them food, giving them water, and giving them information, and these are the things that keep them going, and we call this the oxygen

“Who is funding them? Who are those giving them information? Who are those giving them the logistics that keep them going? It is still the people,” he asked.

Musa stressed that modern security threats are increasingly difficult to combat because criminal elements often operate among the civilian population, making it harder for security agencies to identify and isolate them.

The former Chief of Defense Staff pointed out that the armed forces and other security agencies cannot defeat insecurity without citizens’ cooperation, urging Nigerians to report suspicious activities and support ongoing security efforts.