The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, has asked the United Nations to investigate the funding and training of the Boko Haram terrorists.
Musa, who made the call in a recent interview he had with Al-Jazeera, said funding for the terrorists was coming from foreign countries, hence the need for the UN to find and track the financiers.
The CDS wondered how the terrorists could sustain themselves for 15 years, just as he accused some foreign countries of conspiring to sustain the terrorists with funds, training and equipment.
Daily Trust reports that the CDS’ call on the international community for investigation came at the wake of a new trick by Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists who are now deploying drones for surveillance ahead of launching attacks on security operatives.
The CDS said: “The problem is that I think we have talked to the international community. Let’s find out the funding. As we speak, over 120,000 Boko Haram members have surrendered, and most of them came with hard currency. How did they get it? How are they funded? How did they get the training? How did they get the equipment?
“The UN needs to come in because we need to trace the funding. It is an international flow, and we don’t have control over that,” he said.
Musa said he suspected an international conspiracy, questioning “how are they able to sustain themselves for 15 years? That is one question I think everybody should ask themselves.”
He said he did not know what they wanted to achieve by destabilizing Nigeria, adding that other countries were facing asymmetric warfare.
Gen. Musa warned of the probability the war could go global if solutions were not provided to the West Africa, Sahelian area conflicts.
He said “We are just good guys just trying to make sure that our country is secured, and then, some individuals seem not to be happy about it, and are doing everything possible to throw us under the bus for whatever reasons…I have been in service for almost 33 years. Anytime we seem to be succeeding, somebody throws something at us, and the question is: why? Is it because we are succeeding or you don’t want the country to move forward? What is the aim? What’s the intent? That is the question we are asking.”
He lamented that Nigeria is being denied equipment, saying it is one of the reasons the insurgency had not been wiped out.
“We have a procurement procedure which is being followed. And to also state that even with our monies at times, we find it difficult getting equipment. And the question is: why? One of the reasons why this insurgency has been for this long is because we have been denied access to equipment. Even when we have our money to get it, it is difficult,” he said.
He said he can’t explain why Nigeria was being denied arms, adding that this particular issue needed to be unraveled.
“Our government is doing the best it can. But as an international system, like I said, we don’t produce (equipment), we need to buy. So, going to buy is sometimes a bit difficult, getting these items.”
He denied the presence of any foreign military on Nigeria’s soil, adding that “we have the capacity to secure our country, to secure the sub-region and to assist Africa. We have that capacity.
“All we need is to continue to do joint training, which we do, to get equipment that we need to help us project these wars,” he said.
