The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the Department of State Service (DSS), the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), and the National Counter-Terrorism Centre have revealed ways that terrorism is funded in the nation.
Rear Admiral Yaminu Musa (rtd), the ONSA’s national coordinator, revealed on Wednesday that terrorists are now using kidnapping for ransom to fund their operations.
He claimed that this method of financing terrorism has spread widely and that immediate action was required to stop the threat.
Musa spoke at a workshop on media and communication for the “Anti-Kidnap Multi-Agency Fusion Cell” that was put on by ONSA and the British High Commission.aid, “Kidnapping for ransom is also identified as one of the means of funding terrorism. Thus, carnage unleashed by kidnappers and in affiliation with terrorist groups all over the world leading to loss and disruption of lives and properties is a major concern, hence the need for collective efforts in advancing measures to check the threat.”
Also speaking, the spokesman of the DSS, Peter Afunanya, said kidnapping in the country was fueled by political, economic and ideological factors.
Afunanya stated, “Also, there’s a disorientation in family values. The family, as the most important aspect of society, has broken down. Cultural values have also disappeared.”
Also, the spokesman of the Nigeria Police Force, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said: “Kidnapping has dimensions. A dimension came; it was kidnapping for ransom. Another came, the victims were kidnapped, ransom negotiated, and then the victims were killed.
“Then there is a dimension whereby a victim is kidnapped; his abductors collect ransom, then go ahead to kill the victim and still negotiate before the corpse is released.
“We need to break the conspiracy of silence. We’ll need to talk to our people to expose them. Kidnappers hide amongst our people and have their hideouts in communities. Our law should be strict about this.”
