Major General Henry Ayoola (retd), who once headed Operation Safe Haven in Plateau State, voiced his opinion that former President Muhammadu Buhari was deficient in the political determination required to disclose the financiers of terrorism in the nation.
This statement was made by Ayoola in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today earlier this week.
The ex-Major General lauded President Bola Tinubu for his boldness in revealing the individuals behind the financing of terrorism.
He said, “Nigeria has been battling to kill terrorism for over 20 years now from the northeast region. And now we’re seeing some active roles of these terror gangs within the northwest region of the country in the name of banditry.”
It’s worth remembering that Tukur Mamu, who is currently undergoing trial for his suspected involvement in the train attack in Kaduna, is among those identified as financiers of terrorism in the nation.
When asked what comes to mind when the Buhari government said it would release the list of terror financiers, but for eight years that never happened, Ayoola said, “I think this is one place that we should give a pat on the back to the current government (the Bola Tinubu administration).
“I was on the edge severally during the last regime. There was lack of national will to deal with this situation at the time. It is good to see a government that is showing a stronger will to deal with these situations.
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“I have said it again and again, that what we have is a political strategic problem masquerading as security challenges.
“I’ve said that 1001 times. In my analysis of insurgency and terrorism, I’ve talked about eight essays and indeed, one of the essays is what is coming out now – sponsors – because out of the eight essays, all the approaches we have applied in trying to solve the insurgency and terrorism in the country are just about two components of those eight.
“So adding this third one to it will go a long way because it’s like we’ve been dodging the issue. It’s like we’ve been dodging naming the enemy, naming the adversaries behind this problem’, he said.
He further questioned whether the sudden emergence of all-encompassing security challenges in Nigeria implied the unexpected opening of the gates of hell or the arrival of aliens from some abyss to launch simultaneous attacks on the country.
“Are we saying that the gates of hell were open suddenly and Nigeria is just having these all-around security challenges coming? Is it that aliens were sent from some abyss to come and attack Nigeria all at the same time?” he asked.