The National Security Council on Thursday announced that it was presently considering a nationwide ban on motorcycles and mining activities in the country as part of its strategy to curb terrorist activities, checkmate loopholes, as well as cut off their sources of funding.
Africa Today News, New York reports that this was the outcome of the meeting that President Muhammadu Buhari presided over at the Abuja State House.
Abubakar Malami told state house reporters that investigations are still ongoing, particularly to determine the connection between mining and motorcycles, which they suspect is funding the supply of weapons to the terrorists, after the meeting presided over by the President, the Attorney General of the Federation, and Minister of Justice.
Malami who noted that terrorists had moved from the conventional ways of funding their activities to mining and ransom taking, disclosed the government was not unaware of the economic consequences of the proposed resolutions, particularly the motorcycle ban but it has become imperative in order to guarantee the nation’s security.
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Meanwhile, the Minister of Interior, Aregbesola, speaking on the attack on Kuje prisons detailed that despite the extensive intelligence gathered before the onslaught, the attacks succeeded due to ‘there was no will to act.’
He also revealed that President Buhari had received a report on the preliminary investigation of the Kuje attack and officers who have been found to renege on their responsibilities would be punished.
Terrorist groups, in particular in Nigeria, are increasingly interested in controlling areas of production of gold
The opportunistic nature of these activities ties strongly to the fact that gold is often the favoured mineral of the terrorist groups as many of these groups use this to secure a source of funding for future operations.