The Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa (retd.), has defended the Federal Government’s efforts to tackle insecurity, saying the vast terrain occupied by terrorists makes rescue operations challenging.
Musa spoke on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, saying security forces were regularly rescuing abducted victims but often faced difficulties locating terrorists who retreat into expansive forests after carrying out attacks.
He cited the Sambisa Forest as an example, saying its vast size makes security operations particularly difficult.
“Few ones now, efforts have been made. If you notice, on a daily basis now, we are really getting, rescuing a lot of them. Yeah, because, like I said, we have 923 square kilometres. So this government is overwhelmed. Sambisa Forest is as big as Belgium, as a country. So when people talk about this, they make it look as if it is one small football field and we are refusing to do anything,” he said.
Musa explained that terrorists often disappear into forested areas before security agencies receive information about an abduction, making it difficult for troops to immediately track them.
“These places are massive areas. The forest within Kwara comes in from Burkina Faso to Benin Republic into Nigeria and flows through all these things. So what they do is that once these abductions are done, before the information gets to anybody, these guys are already into the forest.
“So it takes a long time for us to follow them, to be able to trace over there. And then the last one that was done in Kwara State, we had to quarantine where they were going, deny them oxygen, and that’s where we were able to get them.”
The minister’s comments followed reports of several operations in which security forces rescued abducted victims without arresting or killing the terrorists holding them, including an operation in Kwara State.
Explaining the approach, Musa said terrorists often abandoned their captives when security forces intensified pressure on them.
He added that security agencies were also working to cut off terrorists’ access to essential supplies in an effort to weaken their operations.
Musa said ransom payments could also provide leads for tracking terrorists, adding that the Central Bank of Nigeria was working to monitor funds suspected to be linked to criminal activities.
The minister also urged state governors to reconsider the distribution of motorcycles as palliatives, warning that some of the motorcycles could eventually fall into the hands of terrorists and increase their mobility.
