Identify 96 Terrorists’ Sponsors: Afenifere Challenges FG
Emameh Gabriel in Abuja
The Pan Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has challenged the federal government to take prompt action against identified sponsors of terrorism as alleged by the government rather than making periodic announcements for optics.
The body was reacting to the announcement by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, that the federal government had identified 96 sponsors of terror groups in Nigeria.
The National Publicity Secretary of the body, Jare Ajayi, in his reaction, said various officials of the federal government had, at different times, talked about the government’s efforts at curtailing the menace of terrorism that is gradually enveloping the country.
He said: “But other than occasional reports of bombardments of terrorists’ camps by the military, no concrete steps are seen to be taken by the government to tackle the roots of the problem. Indeed, the failure of the government to act decisively in this respect has emboldened the terrorists to be more daring – leading to the death of thousands of people and capturing of many communities particularly in the northern part of the country by the terror groups.”
Ajayi warned that the recent disclosure by Borno State Governor Babangana Zulum that the Islamic West African Province (ISWAP) was about taking over Nigeria not only attests to the above claim, it should be a serious reason for concern warranting decisive actions on the part of the government and its agencies.
“It would be recalled that the minister on Thursday informed the public that 123 companies and 33 Bureau de change were linked to terrorists in addition to 26 suspected bandits/kidnappers and seven co-conspirators have been identified. He added that 45 suspects of the identified 96 sponsors of the terror groups will soon face prosecution.
“While the minister was making this announcement, Borno State governor was warning the Ministerial Committee at the Presidential Villa, Abuja that ISWAP was about taking over the country. And that the invading terrorist organisation is deadlier than Boko Haram that we had been taming unsuccessfully for years,” noted the Afenifere spokesman.
He added that disclosures by the government no longer impress majority of Nigerians as many of the claims and promises made in the past by the government were not followed up with necessary actions.
Ajayi recalled for instance, that the United Arab Emirate announced, last year, that six Nigerians were among the 39 terrorists on its wanted list. The six were actually tried and convicted in that country for setting up a Boko Haram cell in the UAE to raise funds and material assistance for insurgents in Nigeria. The Nigerians were said to have transferred up to $800,000 in favour of Boko Haram between 2015 and 2016.
“Nigeria was supposed to follow up on this but has not. Meaning that foreign countries appear to be more concerned about insecurity and terrorism acts going on in Nigeria even more than our own government seems to be,” he noted.
