- Describes compromised security agents as “worse human beings”
The National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, has accused policemen and soldiers of escalating insecurity in the country by stealing and selling arms and ammunition to criminal elements.
Consequently, he has invoked curses on security personnel who facilitate the movement of weapons to terrorists, bandits, and other non-state actors.
An exasperated Ribadu, who spoke in Abuja on Friday during the destruction of arms by the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms And Light Weapons (NCCSALW), also lamented that a sizable number of illicit arms used to commit crimes in the country originally belonged to the government.
Having no kind words for security agents involved in these acts, the NSA described them as “worse human beings”, assuring that no efforts would be spared in ensuring such characters pay for their crimes against Nigerians and country.
Assuring that the government would do everything possible to ensure the country’s safety, security, and protection, Ribadu said; “We have to find a way of putting a stop to this. We must if we want to recover our country and live in peace and stability.
“The worst human being is a policeman or a soldier who will take arms from his own formations and sell it or hire it out for the bad people to come and kill his own colleagues.
“We must fight these people, knowing also that there are merchants of death and evil from outside the world.
“The proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons remains a major threat to our national security, exacerbating issues such as insurgency, banditry and other violent crimes.”
Meanwhile, available reports indicate that over 45,000 people have so far been killed in the 15-year-old insurgency orchestrated by Boko Haram and other jihadist groups in North-East Nigeria.
This is as the North-Central and North-West Nigeria have also been plagued by banditry over the years with the criminal gangs raiding villages, killing, abducting and tormenting residents, as well as razing people’s ancestral homes after looting various communities.
Despite repeated assurances by government and the efforts by Nigerian Military and other security agencies, it has remained a nightmarish experience for many citizens that are living across these geo-political regions.
