Prosecuting funders of terrorism

Worried by the worsening insecurity across the country, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called on the federal government to urgently apprehend and prosecute those funding terrorism in Nigeria. The labour union made the call during their nationwide protest over insecurity in the country in December last year. The union urged the federal government to deploy the full machinery of governance to reclaim communities, protect workers and restore public confidence in the polity.

The NLC lamented that insecurity had persisted in Nigeria for nearly two decades, marked by terrorism, banditry and kidnapping, with devastating consequences for workers and the economy. The NLC noted that since 2009, over 2,295 teachers had been killed by insurgents and bandits, while more than 19,000 teachers had been displaced in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states. Over 910 schools were destroyed, forcing about 1,500 learning centres to shut down or become internally displaced persons’ camps.” 

Labour also stated that 35 per cent of healthcare facilities were destroyed by terrorism, while 50 per cent became inaccessible in the North-East. It added that dozens of health workers had been kidnapped or killed between 2021 and 2024, which had worsened the already critical shortage of medical professionals.

According to the NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajero, “we are reminding the world of the calamity that has befallen many communities and many workers–healthcare workers, nurses, teachers, transport workers and others. The damage is enormous, and it has to stop.”

We urge the federal government to heed the call by the NLC and begin to arrest and prosecute those funding insecurity in the country. Other concerned Nigerians and groups had made similar calls in the past. The war against insecurity may be prolonged if its funders and sponsors are not promptly apprehended and diligently prosecuted as being done in other countries. One of the ways to win the ongoing war against terrorism is to extinguish its source of funding.

The continued spread of terrorism in Nigeria has been made possible by the role played by finance. Terrorist organisations will not survive for long without finance. The government of the United Arab Emirate once furnished the former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, the list of sponsors of terrorism in Nigeria, but the administration failed to arrest and prosecute them. The current federal government can revisit that list and prosecute those involved in terrorism financing and convict them.

Such convictions will deter others from embarking on such deadly venture. Good enough, we have laws to prosecute the funders of terrorism. For instance, the Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2011 as amended in 2013, which criminalises the financing of terrorism and provides for the freezing of terrorist assets. The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) is the primary agency for combating money laundering and terrorism financing. The NFIU should redouble its efforts by sharing intelligence with local and international agencies that would lead to arrest and prosecution of those sponsoring terrorism in the country.

Nigeria is one of the most terrorized countries in the world. It is placed sixth in the globe among terrorized countries by the 2025 Global Terrorism Index (GTI), with a score of 7.658. It accounted for six per cent of global terrorism deaths in 2023. Since 2007, over 11,000 people have been killed, with millions more displaced.

In spite of the US Christmas Day bombing and renewed onslaught against terrorists in Sokoto and other parts of the country, the terrorists are becoming more ferocious and deadly in their attacks. In the New Year Day, not less than 42 persons, including children were massacred while scores were also abducted by terrorists in Niger State.

The gory incident, which occurred in Agwara and Borgu local government areas of the state, came less than one month after over 300 pupils were abducted from St. Mary’s Catholic School, Papiri. It appears that the North-Central zone is now witnessing upsurge in terrorist activities because of influx of terrorists and bandits fleeing from Sokoto after the coordinated attacks by the US and Nigerian authorities.

Instructively, President Bola Tinubu has ordered the service chiefs and heads of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the Department of State Services (DSS) to apprehend the perpetrators of the heinous attack and bring them to justice. Above all, the government should rein in those funding insecurity in the country.