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Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (rtd.), has warned state governors against distributing motorcycles as palliatives, saying the vehicles can be diverted into the hands of terrorists and used to facilitate their operations.
Musa raised the concern while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, arguing that motorcycles given out under government assistance programmes could provide terrorists with greater mobility across difficult terrain.
The Defence Minister urged governors to reconsider the practice, particularly the distribution of high-capacity motorcycles that can enable terrorists to move quickly between locations.
“We try to appeal to any governor to stop giving out motorcycles as palliatives because these motorcycles are still the same ones that will end up with these terrorists,” Musa said.
He said governments that insist on distributing motorcycles should consider providing smaller-capacity models that would be less useful to criminal and terrorist groups.
“Even if you are to give, don’t give them the big capacity motorcycles, give them the small capacity ones that they won’t be able to use to run around because that gives them leverage,” he added.
According to Musa, terrorists can exploit the speed and mobility provided by motorcycles to enter remote communities, carry out attacks and escape before security forces can respond.
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The minister’s warning came as he spoke about the broader security situation in the country, maintaining that Nigeria had recorded improvements under President Bola Tinubu.
Musa said attacks linked to Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) had become less frequent compared with previous years.
He explained that sustained military pressure on terrorist groups had forced some of their activities away from large-scale terrorist attacks towards kidnapping and abductions as a means of raising funds.
“The trajectory is this, from criminality to kidnapping to terrorism, insurgency; once you are able to hit them it goes back downwards and so we are now back into the stage of abductions and kidnappings because that is the easiest way for them to try and raise money,” he said.
Musa added that troops were increasingly entering terrorist enclaves and rescuing people held captive by the groups.
He also called for more effective local government administration, saying the inability of local councils to function properly was contributing to insecurity in several communities.
