• Irabor says some politicians exploit insecurity to gain political advantage
• Former CDS warns Nigeria faces layered threats — ideological, criminal, political and economic
• Comments follow FG’s plan to name terrorism financiers publicly
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Former Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor (retd.), says some Nigerian politicians are actively fuelling insecurity for political gains, stressing that the country’s security problems are far too complex to be reduced to one explanation.
Irabor spoke on Monday during an interview on Channels Television, where he analysed the multiple layers of criminality driving violence across the country. His remarks came barely a day after presidential aide Daniel Bwala revealed that the Federal Government was set to publicly name individuals financing terrorism.
The former defence chief warned that Nigeria’s insecurity cannot be viewed through a single lens, explaining that several violent groups operate with different motives.
“You can’t hold people for their views, but the reality is that our security challenges are multifaceted,” he said.
Irabor noted that threats range from ideological terrorism to community displacement, religiously targeted attacks and purely economic criminality.
READ ALSO: Insecurity: Peace Returning To Troubled Parts of Nigeria – Irabor
“Just as we have terrorists who have an ideology, we also have those targeting Christians, and there are others targeting communities, wanting to displace them and take over those areas,” he explained.
According to him, combining all violent incidents under one category would lead to wrong conclusions.
“If you lump the entire thing into one, the analysis would be wrong,” he said.
Responding to claims that insecurity is driven mainly by politics, Irabor said political motives do exist but do not explain all cases.
“Those who say it is political would be lumping all issues together as if nothing else matters — that’s not correct,” he stated.
He admitted, however, that some politicians have indeed taken advantage of the crisis.
“That does not mean some politicians have not exploited insecurity to gain leverage or to create the impression that they can do better,” he said.
“Others may want to score a point by suggesting there’s poor governance, so they instigate crisis in one form or another.”
