Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (Retd.), has given his opinion on the continued rise of insecurity in Nigeria, particularly in the North East of the country, news.ng reports.
Musa, the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), in an interview on Arise Television programme, Prime Time, on Tuesday night, cautioned that some of the terrorist groups are being emboldened because of the support they receive from both local and international sponsors.
Analysing the psyche of these terrorist organisations in the country, the former army general noted that these individuals have already been indoctrinated.
According to him, they believe they are fighting a righteous cause and have nothing to lose when they die.
He said, “The worst enemy you can fight is one, somebody who is from within, somebody who has nothing to lose.”
“They feel if they die, they’re going to heaven. If they kill somebody, they’re going to get blessed. So, they take every risk to come out.”
On the loss of military officers who died while on the line of duty, the minister said terrorists act based on intelligence given to them by locals, thereby having an edge over the military.
“These were deliberate attacks, and what they do is this same individual that people see as civilians are the one telling them that this unit, you have only 20 soldiers. So, what they do, they come over 200,” he explained.
He added, “Because of the information they’re getting from those informants or logisticians that help them go in… once they have the support, it makes it a lot easier for them to be able to work.”
Commenting on the high rate of casualties, he identified the use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) by the terrorists.
According to him, the primary ingredient for the production of urea fertiliser has been banned in the North East despite creating obstacles for genuine users.
“Urea fertiliser is what they do. So, we banned urea fertiliser from the Northeast. If it is blended, it’s okay. It’s difficult for them to be able to extract and separate it. But they bring it as raw as it is… and make bombs,” he added.
He also noted that another motive behind the increased violence in the region is politics.
According to him, some elements in the country are taking advantage of the situation, claiming that insecurity is always on the increase during elections.
“Any time there’s a political year, it goes up… individuals want to take advantage to make the government look weak.
” You don’t have to kill the people you want to govern. Anybody that doesn’t mean well to this country, there are a lot of them, both within and outside,” he concluded.
