‘Some politicians are funding terrorism in Nigeria’ – Former Chief of Defence Staff, Irabor

Former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Lucky Irabor (retd.), has issued a strong warning, claiming that some politicians in the country are exploiting and even fueling insecurity to gain political advantage. 

He cautioned that Nigeria’s security challenges are far too complex to be attributed to a single cause.

Gen. Irabor made this disclosure during an interview on Channels Television on Monday, December 1, where he analyzed the multiple layers of criminality driving violence across different parts of the country.

His comments come just 24 hours after a presidential aide revealed that the Federal Government was preparing to publicly name individuals suspected of financing terrorism.

Irabor cautioned strongly against making sweeping generalizations about the security crisis. According to his analysis, the country is facing multiple, simultaneous forms of security threats: ideological, criminal, political, and economic.

The former defense chief emphasized that violent actors, including terrorists, bandits, community displacers, and economic criminals, operate with diverse motives, making the crisis difficult to simplify.

He stated, “If you lump the entire thing into one, the analysis would be wrong. Just as we have terrorists who have an ideology, we equally have those who are bent on targeting Christians, and there are also those who are targeting communities, desiring to displace communities and wanting to stay in those communities to be able to have a voice.”

While refuting the claim that insecurity is purely political, Gen. Irabor conceded that political motives are a deeply problematic factor in the crisis.

He admitted that some political figures have weaponized insecurity for personal gain: “That does not mean some politicians have not taken advantage of the insecurity to perhaps gain some sort of leverage; to give the impression that they can do better.”

“Others perhaps want to score a point that there’s poor governance; they could also instigate crisis in one way or the other,” he added.

Irabor’s statements underscore the deeply complex challenges facing the Nigerian government as it prepares to confront terrorism.
 

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