A retired military officer and former Special Adviser on Security to the Nasarawa State Government, Brigadier General Muhammad Ibn Umar Adeka (rtd) has said that if terrorism in Nigeria must be seen to an end, the Federal Government must go after its sponsors and bring them to justice for several heinous crimes committed against humanity.
Gen. Adeka, who made this disclosure on Sunday at the quarterly Dawah workshop on security organised by the Lekki Muslim Ummah (LEMU), noted that if the sponsors of terrorism are made to face the music, terrorists will run out of financial support to procure weapons and vehicles among other logistics.
According to him, There is a principle of war called interdiction. When you are fighting an enemy, you prevent the enemy from getting any form of support.
“Now, assuming you are seated here as the leader of this family. Then, a hoodlum or terrorist comes out with a rifle and you killed him, two more come out with two rifles, you killed them also, then, four come out with four rifles and you killed them. What will be your concern? Who is giving them the rifles?
“This is because you know these misguided youths don’t have money to buy rifles. They don’t know where it is bought. So, to stop this attack, you have to find out those sponsoring them with either the funds to buy the weapons or the gun dealer themselves. Those are the active sponsors of terrorism. They decide the target to be attacked.
“And the principle of terrorism is that you must separate the fish from water before you can catch it. If terrorists mix up with the populace, it will be hard to find them. So, you must separate the terrorists from the people. Also, the sponsors must be identified and blocked from providing arms and funding,” he said.
In an exclusive chat with Muslim News, the retired military officer, who hails from Nasarawa LGA of Nasarawa state, argued that corruption has been a major issue inhibiting success in the fight against the boko haram and other terrorist groups in Nigeria.
General Adeka, a Ph.D. holder in security studies revealed that some government officials and highly placed individuals derive proceeds from terrorism, and therefore would not want the war to end anytime soon.
He made reference to how he was prevented by a certain service chief from carrying out an official assignment delegated to him by the Minister of Defence in 2016 in a bid to unravel the mysteries behind terrorism in Nigeria.
“So, if that is what I witnessed, then, I must agree with the Washington-based organisation which said that corruption in the leadership has blocked the president from actionable intelligence that would enable him take effective decision to counter terrorism,” he noted.
Gen Adeka urged the Nigerian government to gather enough intelligence in identifying the sponsors of Boko Haram if the war against Boko Haram must be won, alleging that a certain past president (names withheld) was a sponsor of terrorism.
“Intelligence and security agencies should fish out who the sponsors are. It’s part of the job I have done when I was in the force,” he added.