By Cross Udo and Olusegun Olanrewaju
Borno State Governor, Prof Babagana Zulum, yesterday warned that the Islamic States of West African Province (ISWAP) is poised to take over the country.
Zulum appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to hire international mercenaries to help the country tackle the menace caused by various terrorist groups operating in the country.
This came just as the Federal Government disclosed that it has secured the arrest of 45 out of 676 people linked to terrorism financing in the country.
However, speaking after the weekly ministerial briefing organised by the Presidential Communication Team at the Presidential Villa in Abuja yesterday, Zulum contended that the growing number of ISWAP in some parts of the state was of great concern to many Nigerians, warning that allowing the terrorist group to grow would spell doom for the country.
He said that if nothing was done to tackle headlong the terrorist group, which he described as a threat to the nation, what Boko Haram has done would be a child’s play compared to what ISWAP could do with its sophisticated arms and ammunition.
Zulum said ISWAP is now more educated and is massing up in Borno State exploiting its closeness to the Sahel.
He, therefore, called for a retooling of the military strategy to stop them from growing into a greater monster that will further imperil the security of the country.
The governor urged Buhari to re-engage external mercenaries for additional support.
While noting the successes that have been achieved in the war against insurgency in the North-East, Zulum added, “All that I have said now, would never have been feasible without the support of the government, but notwithstanding all the contributions of the Federal Government, we still have some challenges.
“One, I said it before, a growing number of ISWAP in some parts of the state is a matter of great concern to everybody. Why? In the shores of Lake Chad, again in southern Borno State. Luckily enough, I was told there was military deployment yesterday to southern Borno state to fight the insurgents in the Tudun Katarangwa.
“But I think this is the early warning signal. We shouldn’t allow ISWAP to grow. ISWAP is more sophisticated, more funded and they are more educated. And we shall do everything possible to defeat ISWAP otherwise, what Boko Haram did will be a child’s play.
“This is an early warning signal. The Nigerian Army has to re-strategize and defeat ISWAP. ISWAP will be a threat to the entire nation. Because of the proximity of Sub Saharan Africa, they are coming from Libya and others resettling here,” he added.
Zulum debunked the report that two local government areas of the state are under the control of terrorists, stressing that though there is no human population in the areas, the military has taken over the council areas.
The governor said whenever he had issues of security, the President had never denied him or delayed an audience with him.
“Sometimes, I seek a meeting with him at very short notice while already in Abuja, and he would still ask me to come over. This has helped tackle security challenges in Borno,” he said.
Fielding question on the challenges he was facing, the Borno State governor said, “One very serious challenge that we have, our recruitment process has to be looked into. Yes, you can just say recruitment for the Army, collecting notes from governors, ministers, and others and the people are queuing in.
“As long as we are not willing to sanitize our recruitment procedures in the armed forces, police, DSS, and others, we will not get the right people. These are something that needs to be done. The bitter truth is better.”
He said he was relocating the Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs from the camps to either their ancestral homes or local government headquarters in a dignified manner because of the high rate of prostitution, gangsterism, procreation going on there.
He further said that criminality has been rampant in the IDP camps.
“My resilience has helped contain terrorism, else other parts of Nigeria would have been taken over. Food insecurity is a worse form of insecurity, if people can farm and produce food, terrorism will even get worse,” he said.
•FG arrests 45 out of 676 financiers of Boko Haram, ISWAP Meanwhile, the Federal Government said it has secured the arrest of 45 out of 676 people linked to terrorism financing in the country.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, disclosed this during a press conference in Abuja on President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration’s fight against corruption.
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According to the minister, the arrests followed the analysis of financial transactions by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) between 2020 and 2021.
Mohammed said 96 people, 123 companies, and 33 Bureau De Change operators, who are allegedly financing terrorism, were uncovered by the NFIU.
“For its part, the analysis by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), in 2020-2021, revealed 96 financiers of terrorism in Nigeria, 424 associates/supporters of the financiers, involvement of about 123 companies and 33 bureaux de change, in addition to identifying 26 suspected bandits/kidnappers and seven co-conspirators,” the minister said.
He added, “The analysis has resulted in the arrest of 45 suspects who will soon face prosecution and seizure of assets. Also, from its analysis of tax evasion and tax avoidance linked to corruption, NFIU has identified N3,909,707,678,112.43 in VAT and N3,737,918,335,785.82 in Withholding Tax due to the government.
“NFIU has also sent 1,165 intelligence reports on cases of corruption, money laundering, and other serious offenses to 27 domestic agencies for investigation, prosecution, and asset recovery.
“On terrorism financing, NFIU had intelligence exchanges on Boko Haram, ISWAP, banditry, kidnapping, and others with 19 countries. During the same period, 2020-2021, the organization returned fraudulently obtained funds totaling $103.72m £3,000; 7,695 Singapore Dollar and Euros 1,091 to 11 countries of victims who came into the country.”
