As Nigerians continue to face attacks by terrorists, bandits, and armed groups, Nigeria’s former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor (rtd.) cautions that some politicians are compounding the crisis by exploiting insecurity for their own interests.
Speaking in a televised interview, Irabor described Nigeria’s security challenges as complex and multifaceted, driven by ideological, criminal, political, and economic motives. “Our security issues cannot be reduced to a single cause.
“We have terrorists with ideological agendas, actors targeting specific communities, and some who seek to displace populations for influence. Lumping everything together gives a misleading picture”, he said.
While acknowledging political exploitation, Irabor stressed it does not account for all incidents. “Some politicians have taken advantage of insecurity to gain leverage or highlight governance shortcomings, but that does not mean every violent act is politically motivated”, he explained.
Speaking on the complexity of Nigeria’s security landscape, Irabor cautioned against sweeping generalisations that place all violent incidents under one categorisation.
According to him, the country faces multiple forms of security threats, ideological, criminal, political and economic, that operate simultaneously.
He said: “You can’t hold people for their views, but the reality is that our issues in terms of security challenges are multifaceted.
“Just as we have terrorists who have an ideology, we equally have those who are bent on targeting Christians, and there are also those who are targeting communities, desiring to displace communities and wanting to stay in those communities to be able to have a voice”.
Irabor also highlighted the diversity of actors involved, including terrorists, bandits, and economic criminals, each operating with different motives. He warned that oversimplifying the situation undermines effective responses.
The former CDS emphasized the need for a comprehensive understanding of the crisis to implement targeted security measures. “Recognizing the multiple layers of this challenge is essential if we are to protect citizens and restore stability”, he concluded.
