October 20, (THEWILL) – Nigerians have become accustomed to reports of military and policemen, as well as influential persons, being accused of supplying weapons to terrorists in the country since Boko Haram insurgents gained global notoriety with the kidnapping of over 276 schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State, northeastern Nigeria in April 2014.
Prior to that incident, former President Goodluck Jonathan even claimed that some members of his administration and the security agencies were sympathisers of Boko Haram. At the time, the Nigerian Army reportedly tried some generals accused of sabotaging the fight against insecurity. But none of the interventions was as frontal and indicative as last Thursday’s revelation by the National Security Adviser, NSA, Nuhu Ribadu, when he said that corrupt security agencies were selling weapons belonging to the Federal Government to terrorists and other criminals.
Condemning military and police personnel involved in such sordid deals, the NSA said, “The worst human being is a policeman or soldier who will take arms from his own formation and sell them or hide them out for bad people to come and kill his own colleagues.”
Ribadu, who made this disclosure during the Arms Destruction Exercise organised by the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) at Muhammadu Buhari Cantonment Giri, Abuja, warned: “We have to find a way to stop this. We must put an end to it, if we want to recover our country and live in peace and stability.”
Although the NSA boldly identified the problem, he offered no solution and instead threw a challenge to everyone, saying, “We have to find a way to stop to this…” even as he gave the assurance that the Federal Government would do everything possible to ensure the country is safe, peaceful and secure.
“This is sabotage of the highest kind,” Mr Joshua Ogunmola, a retired military officer who now runs a security outfit known as G4S, told THEWILL on Friday: “I was in the military and once fought in the North-East. I know from my training that I should not and I can never do anything that will put the lives of my brother at arms in jeopardy. As a matter of fact, I took an oath to lay down my life in defence of the territorial integrity of our country and by extension the lives of my compatriots. What the NSA said shows that the fight against insecurity will take longer than necessary. This act of sabotage is also not good for the mental health of everybody in the society.
“Insecurity plays out dynamically in society. In Nigeria, there was a time when the greatest crime in the country was burglary. Then it became armed robbery and later, highway robbery, advance fee fraud and now, kidnapping, banditry and so on. These are the outcomes of such acts of sabotage that the NSA disclosed.”
Also, Shehu Sani, a rights activist and former senator from Kaduna State, in a tweet on Friday, said, “The revelations reportedly made by the NSA Ribadu that most of the arms used by bandits and terrorists in Nigeria were sourced from some collaborating security agents is a strong evidence that our security challenges are reinforced and sustained by rogue elements within our security and defence services.”
AN UGLY PAST
In truth, the allegation that some unscrupulous security agents are supplying arms and ammunition to bandits and terrorists is as old as the endless fight against insecurity in the country in the past two decades. Ribadu’s revelation only unveiled what has become endemic in the country, particularly among serving and former military personnel.
Right from 2014 through 2016, 2022 and 2023, this security menace has troubled every past administration in the country and currently affects the Bola Tinubu-led government. In 2014 for instance, 10 army generals and five officers were reportedly tried by a military tribunal and found guilty of providing arms and information to Boko Haram. This kind of collusion with the terrorist group was said to be responsible for the delayed action to secure the quick release of the kidnapped Chibok school girls.
The trial apparently failed to achieve the desired results because history repeated itself in September 2016 when the army admitted that 16 officers and troops were caught selling arms and ammunition to Boko Haram.
Former Chief of Defence Staff, Lt-Gen Lucky Irabor (retd), who was the theatre commander in northeastern Nigeria in 2016, told a news conference that the military authorities had confirmed that some soldiers were selling arms and ammunition to Boko Haram. He called it a betrayal of the Nigerian people. The indicted military personnel allegedly failed to account for 20 out of 21 anti-aircraft guns assigned to the artillery brigade.
At a time, it was common to hear or read that soldiers complained of food rations and lack of weapons to match Boko Haram terrorists in the battlefield, leaving the latter the insurgents to gain control over large swathes of land in the North-East, just as other armed groups, such as Ansaru and the Islamic State’s West Africa Province, ISWAP, entered the country and gained foothold in some states in the North-Central geo-political zone from where similar elements spread to the North-West geo-political zone.
Also, a dismissed soldier was caught selling guns and supplying logistics to Boko Haram terrorists. According to the Director of Defence Media Operations at the time in 2023, Major-General Edward Buba, the ex-soldier who was dismissed from the 5th Brigade, Damasak, was arrested on July 23, 2023 at Boi in Bogoro Local Government Area of Bauchi State.
Other military kits recovered from the culprits were Nigerian Merchant Navy ceremonial dress with peak cap, 4 Navy uniforms, 3 ranks, 3 badges, 14 mobile phones, 3 ID cards, one camel bag, 4 military boots, one jack knife, 2 camouflage vests, 2 fragmental jackets, 2 military belts, one pistol holder and some documents, 1 Jack knife. By this time, more than 20,000 persons had been killed and Internally Displaced Persons camps had sprung up in many parts of the North-East, where many people had been displaced by the fight against terrorism.
Perhaps the most audacious among ex-soldiers implicated in arms supply to bandits is Sa’idu Lawal, who voluntarily retired from the Nigerian Army in 2021 and immediately took to arms supply to terrorists in the North-West states of Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi and Niger.
Lawal was arrested by troops on the Kaduna- Abuja Expressway on his way to supply weapons to a notorious bandit leader terrorising communities in Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State, Dogo Hamza.
While parading the suspect in Gusau, the Zamfara State capital, the Police Public Relations Officer in Zamfara State, SP Mohammed Shehu confirmed that Lawal was arrested on his way to supply weapons to bandits terrorising communities in Zamfara State.
Similarly, a National Security and Civil Defence Corps officer, identified as ACS II Maikano S/Tasha, was reportedly caught alongside others with a large cache of ammunition, including AK-47 and anti-aircraft bullets, as well as illicit drugs, a fortnight ago in Zamfara State.
According to the Commissioner of Police in Zamfara, Mohammed Shehu Dalijan, Maikano had been arrested two years earlier, but he was released. Dalijan gave the assurance that this time around, Maikano would not evade justice under his watch.
“These corrupt practices among the security agencies have progressively impacted the military institution and personnel with the consequent erosion of public trust in security agencies. This can lead people to resort to self-help in security matters,” Executive Director of Rule of Law and Accountability Centre, RULAAC, Okechukwu Nwaguma told THEWILL on Friday. He further said, “These activities will continue to undermine community cooperation with law enforcement efforts. Citizens will be very unlikely or hesitant to report suspicious activities or collaborate in security initiatives.”
Ogunmola of G4S Security added, “That is why I said the fight against insecurity will not end soon. Those at the war front are gradually being degraded by these acts of sabotage. I know because I was once in the theatre of war in the North-East. Morale will be at its lowest ebb when you know that the weapons you ought to use are being stolen and given to terrorists to be used against you.
‘I am sure you know that some terrorists were granted pardon and were reunited with their families. About two weeks ago, I read that some of the repentant terrorists carted away military weapons and ran away. These were the terrorists the army said were de-radicalised. They found their way into the Civilian Joint Task Force and then carted away military weapons. The fight against terrorism will not end soon.”
WAY OUT
Efforts to reach Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumiyiwa Adejobi and Director of Army Public Relations, Major General Onyema Nwachukwu for comments on this report failed as they did not respond to calls to their phones.
However, Maj. Gen. Nwachukwu, while addressing the investigation of corruption allegations against the immediate past Commander of the 3 Brigade, Kano, Brig. Gen. M.A. Sadiq, reportedly said the military has zero tolerance for indiscipline
According to him, the Nigerian Army, being a self-regulatory institution founded on the bedrock of discipline, justice, and accountability, has zero tolerance for indiscipline and will, therefore, not condone any form of misconduct or illicit action and inactions that could undermine the threshold of its values and principles.
RULAAC’s Nwaguma thinks that the NSA’s shocking revelation calls for “urgent government actions in response.” According to him, this is another opportunity for the Federal Government to demonstrate a commitment to upholding its constitutional mandate to provide security and welfare for the citizens and restore public confidence in governmental institutions.
Therefore, he said, the government must launch a prompt, comprehensive and transparent investigation and prosecute any individual involved in such illicit activities. In addition, measures to strengthen oversight and accountability within security agencies to prevent corruption and misconduct should be implemented urgently.
Other suggestions, according to him, are for government to consider updating the legal framework governing the conduct of security agencies to ensure clear consequences for violations and misconduct; address underlying issues contributing to insecurity, such as poverty, unemployment and social inequality which diminish the appeal of banditry and misconduct; invest in intelligence gathering capabilities to better anticipate and thwart threats while ensuring appropriate measures are in place to protect informants; foster community trust in the security forces through transparent communication, regular engagement with local communities and mechanism for reporting conduct; work with civil society organisations to monitor security situations and hold security agencies accountable to the citizens they serve.
Arguing that the issue requires immediate action, Senator Sani suggested a thorough cleansing of the security apparatus. “Fumigation and deworming of the police and the Army is needed,” he said.
“We do too much talking in this country and many culprits are hardly brought to justice. How do you build a lawful society when people commit crimes and they are not punished? What is wrong in giving wide publicity to saboteurs, such as the NSA has indicted the way the EFCC publishes indicted Yahoo boys on the pages of newspapers and on television screens?,” Ogunmola said.
Amos Esele is the Acting Editor of THEWILL Newspaper. He has over two decades of experience on the job.
