Army In a startling revelation during a sectoral debate organized by the House of Representatives in Abuja on Tuesday, Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, disclosed that some prison warders are aiding Boko Haram members in carrying out criminal activities, including money laundering.
During debriefing sessions with captured Boko Haram members in the North-East, General Musa learned that the extremist group utilizes prison warders to plan operations and transfer funds from prison to the field. The terrorists reportedly confessed to using warders’ accounts for money transfers, with the funds shared equally between the warders and the terrorists.
General Musa clarified that the disclosure does not implicate all prison warders but underscores the challenges faced in combating terrorism. He stated, “We are not saying all of them are bad, but they use some of the warders’ accounts to transfer money, and the deal is anybody whose account it is transferred, shared it 50-50. Those are the challenges.”
In addition to the revelation, the Army Chief lamented the impact of the high dollar rate on purchasing essential equipment needed to address the country’s security challenges. General Musa highlighted that most items procured for defense purposes are bought with foreign currency, citing the difficulty in producing these items locally.
He explained, “We don’t produce what we need in Nigeria, and if you do not produce what you need, that means you are at the beck and call of the people that produce these items.” General Musa cited an example from the previous regime, where $1 billion was allocated for defense procurement, with over $600 million designated for aircraft. He emphasized that the cost of defense equipment, such as a precision missile for drones at $5,000 each, contributes to the challenges faced by the armed forces.
The disclosure sheds light on the multifaceted challenges confronting the Nigerian military in its efforts to counter terrorism, emphasizing the need for strategic measures to address both internal security threats and external dependencies in defense procurement.
