A whopping N2.8 trillion was allegedly extorted from Southeasterners as ransom to bandits; unpatriotic security operatives on roadblocks, corrupt revenue agents, and other criminal elements, including non-state actors in three years, a report has said.

The report released by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) on July 31, 2023, was the outcome of research it conducted between July 2020, and 2023.

According to the report, “Deployed security forces and other government agencies are more criminal and atrocious than non-state criminal entities and criminalities constitutionally mandated to the former to uproot and contain.”

It claimed that there were also over 6,000 police, and 2,500 military roadblocks across the region.

According to the report, over 50 armed groups with some directly linked to state actors, are in operation in the region.

It read in part: “The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) has carried out fresh field studies which found that estimated N2.8 trillion or $3.5 billion belonging to hardworking, self-reliant and lawful citizens of Eastern Nigeria was lost at gunpoint in three years of July 2020 to July 2023.

“The amount had risen from ‘blue-collar’ corruption and other corrupt practices perpetrated by armed state actors and armed non-state actors cutting across the eleven eastern Nigerian states of Edo, Delta, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo, Abia, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Rivers, a period covering July 2020 to July 2023.”

The report gave a breakdown of the humongous sum as follows:

“The whopping N2.8 trillion proceeds from state actor and non-state actor criminal activities had come from police and military roadblocks -N670bn; Governors’ squandered security votes’- N400 billion; extortions by militant government agencies – N700bn; and police security to VIPs/institutions-N30bn”.

Others were “military/police house burnings/lootings -N150 billion; ransoms/robberies by armed non-state criminal entities -N400 billion and other crime proceeds from armed non-state criminal entities -N200 billion.”

It further read: “Added to the estimated N660 billion police/military roadblock extortions is estimated N200 billion arising from ‘police custodial extortions (.i.e. ‘bail fees’ and ‘cash mobilisation’ for arrests, investigations, and court arraignments)”.

“Estimated sum of N60 billion was also linked to gunpoint seizure and conversion of “crime proceeds” by various police crack squads across the eleven Eastern States (.i.e. gunpoint money transfers and cash seizure and conversion of the seized automobiles, motorcycles and other expensive personal belongings) especially those seized from the slain and the arrested citizens undergoing criminal investigations.”

“The totality of the above is to say that criminal monies have taken over security and governance duties in Eastern Nigeria”, the report claimed.

The CSO said that the latest report was a follow-up from its main report of Tuesday, July 18, 2023, which identified six major triggers of insecurity and other unsafe conditions threatening Nigeria with genocide or complex humanitarian catastrophes in the past eight years or since June 2015.

Intersociety’s Report of 18th July 2023 graphically traced the present insecurity and other unsafe conditions to former President Muhammad Buhari Government’s quest to plunge Nigeria into the Afghan-modeled “Islamic Caliphate”.