The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, has disclosed that efforts are ongoing to identify and prosecute individuals financing terrorism in Nigeria, noting that the matter involves complex legal and international dimensions.
Speaking on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme on Thursday, Musa explained that terrorism funding often originates from outside the country, making it difficult to take immediate action within Nigeria.
“I think the process is on, I can speak for this government … because it has to do with a lot of legal issues and also international connections. Some of them have funds coming from outside, and we cannot do anything from within,” he stated.
According to him, local accomplices are usually employed to facilitate the flow of funds. These individuals are often provided with motorcycles and tasked with remitting money into designated accounts, which security agencies are now monitoring.
“We know them. The local ones, what they do normally is to employ a few individuals, provide motorcycles for them and those ones are remitting funds daily into some accounts. So, it’s being tracked. They try to circulate these monies and that’s why it’s important for us to be able to track the funds,” Musa revealed.
The CDS praised the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) for its role in exposing financial trails linked to terrorism.
“The NFIU has been doing so much. Apart from the intelligence set-up, the financial links are also being followed through and through, and arrests have been made. I can assure you the Attorney-General of the Federation and the National Security Adviser (Nuhu Ribadu) are all working seriously to ensure that we address those issues,” he added.
Musa further disclosed that the Department of State Services (DSS), the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), and other security institutions are actively tracking political figures suspected of sponsoring insecurity.
“You know criminals work together. They synergise their efforts, both the bandits and terrorists, because of one common goal — they want to make money and ensure communities are suffering. And again, politics is a factor. When there is peace, it shows the government is doing well; when there is unrest, it paints the government in a bad light.
“You realise that last year, we had the least number of deaths. Then, how come suddenly everything has gone up? Because politics has come in, elections are coming. You cannot rule out the fact that some individuals are making sure there is no peace. The funny thing is, how do you want to kill the people you want to govern? What do you gain from it?” Musa queried.
Although he did not confirm whether political sponsors of terrorism have been conclusively identified, the Defence Chief assured that investigations are advancing.
He also called for urgent reforms in Nigeria’s justice system to ensure terrorism-related cases are handled more swiftly and effectively.
