From Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha
The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) said an estimated N2.8 trillion or $3.5 billion belonging to hardworking, self reliant and lawful citizens of South-East and South-South regions were lost at gunpoint in three years between July 2020 and July 2023.
The group said a whopping $3.5 billion had risen from ‘blue-collar’ corruption and other corrupt practices perpetrated by armed state actors and armed non state actors cutting across the 11 old Eastern Nigerian States of Edo, Delta, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo, Abia, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Rivers, a period covering July 2020 to July 2023.
A report released by the Chairman, Intersociety, Mr. Emeka Umeagbalasi, after its investigation, showed that a whopping N2.8 trillion proceeds from state actors and non state actors criminal activities had come from police and military roadblocks N670 billion; governors’ squandered security votes’ N400 billion; extortions by militant government agencies N700 billion; police security to VIPs/institutions N30 billion; military/police house burnings/lootings N150 billion; ransoms/robberies by armed non state criminal entities N400 billion, and other crime proceeds from armed non state criminal entities N200 billion.
The group alleged that the estimated N660 billion police/military roadblock extortions was estimated at N200 billion arising from ‘police custodial extortions (.i.e. ‘bail fees’ and ‘cash mobilisation’ for arrests, investigations and court arraignments), alleging that an estimated N60 billion was also linked to gunpoint seizure and conversion of “crime proceeds” by various police crack squads across the 11 Eastern States (.i.e. gunpoint money transfers and cash seizure and conversion of the seized automobiles, motorcycles and other expensive personal belongings), especially those seized from the slain and the arrested citizens undergoing criminal investigations.
Intersociety said the current report was a follow-up to main report of Tuesday, July 18, 2023, which identified six major triggers of insecurity and other unsafe conditions threatening Nigeria with genocide or complex humanitarian catastrophes in the past eight years or since June 2015.
Intersociety’s report of July 18, 2023 had graphically traced the present insecurity and other unsafe conditions to former President Muhammad Buhari government’s quest to plunge Nigeria into Afghan modelled “Islamic Caliphate” among others.
“It has long become a history in Nigeria or any part, thereof, to find a retired or serving security chief that lives within the ambit of his or her statutory remunerations (salaries and allowances). Most of them are strongly believed to be living over 90 times more than their statutory remunerations. Their chronically corrupted lifestyles are majorly oiled by ‘extortion-racketeering’ through “official armed robberies”, while the rest comes from “white-collar criminalities” such as pen robberies.
“These “criminal monies” after being illicitly generated later end up being channeled into acquisition of movable and immovable choice properties that have sprung up from left, right and centre of Nigeria and beyond its shores, including “Four-Star/Five-Star” hotels, plazas, hostels, petrol and gas stations, manufacturing industries, real estate investments; and ‘moveable’ investments in banks, manufacturing industries, multinational companies, telecommunications and private mansions within and outside the country.
“Intersociety has grandly found that armed state actors and militant government extortionist agencies had, in the past three years of July 2020 to July 2023, stolen seven times more than non-state criminal entities. While the former stole a total of N2.2 trillion (about 78.5%), the latter, who the former were created, equipped and paid to uproot and contain, stole only N600 billion (about 21.5%).
“Also the total criminal monies stolen from defenceless easterners in three years by the drafted criminal security forces in the East was N1.5 trillion as against N600 billion stolen by the non state criminal entities, which is approximately three times higher than that stolen by non state criminal entities.
“The criminal security forces have also been found to have looted and burned down or wantonly destroyed civilian houses in Eastern Nigeria, five times more than non state criminal entities have done, who also killed much lesser number of citizens outside the law than the number killed, maimed, abducted and disappeared by the drafted criminal and atrocious police and military personnel and their chiefs across the East, since July 2020,” Intersociety stated.