Address the real reason why terrorism persists, CSOs tell FG, military
Omeiza Bilal
A coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have called on the Federal Government to address the real reason why terrorism persists in the country.
In a statement on Monday in Abuja, signed by African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), Amnesty International Nigeria, Global Rights,Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), and CLEEN Foundation, among several others, said the government should go a step further by probing the country’s rampant poverty and inequality, porous borders, corruption and inefficiency in defence spending.
The statement titled “Baseless and Unsubstantiated Allegations Against NGOs on “Why Boko Haram, bandits thrive: How NGOs, others aid terrorists — Former generals, commanders”, the CSOs wondered why rather than commend them for work they were doing, choose to blame them for a war that is not their making.
“We strongly condemn this act of stigmatizing, smearing, defaming and targeting the NGO sector which is inconsistent with meaningfully attending to the genuine threats of terrorism in our country. Rather than confronting the systemic failures that have allowed terrorism to thrive in Nigeria, these claims attempt to shift blame onto the very organizations that have stepped into the void to support communities abandoned by the Nigerian state.
“For nearly two decades, NGOs operating in the North-East have played an indispensable role in mitigating the devastating impact of insurgency and banditry. They provide life-saving humanitarian assistance, education, healthcare, and psychosocial support to millions of displaced and vulnerable Nigerians. These activities are carried out without any intention of gaining pecuniary benefit and they operate under the supervision of strict regulatory frameworks, including rigorous anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws enforced by the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU),” they said.
They urged the Nigerian Security Apparatus to “focus its efforts and manpower on disrupting terrorist funding and logistics networks rather than scapegoating civil society. It must also enhance intelligence gathering and operational capacity to secure lives and properties.
“The government must engage constructively with NGOs to address the root causes of insecurity and alleviate the suffering of affected communities understanding that civil society can meaningfully generate peace and development, including implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and can clearly articulate the sources of grievances identified as factors leading to terrorist and extremist violence.
“The undersigned calls for caution as inflammatory statements such as this news article attributed to an unnamed former Air Officer Commanding (AOC) of the Nigerian Air Force could lead to attacks on humanitarian actors further deepening the crisis we are aiming to solve.
“This pattern of baseless accusations is a disservice to Nigerians and undermines the very principles of accountability and justice that we all seek to uphold.
“The cost of stifling civil society to prevent any perceived threat of terrorism far outweighs its benefits. Any effective counter-terrorism strategy needs to strengthen, not weaken, civil society. There is growing evidence that the instrumentalisation of agendas to counter-terrorism and to prevent and counter violent extremism is leading to a lack of trust in State authorities,” the 74 CSO added.
