The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, has revealed that some recently arrested Boko Haram terrorists in the northeast planned attacks from prison in collaboration with prison warders.

Musa made the disclosure when he appeared before the House of Representatives, alongside the service chiefs and the Inspector General of Police (IGP), on Tuesday.

He told the lawmakers that the terrorists were able to pass funds to their accomplices outside the prison using the accounts of some of the warders, adding that the deal was that anyone whose account was used would get a 50% share of the funds.

“The issue of correctional facilities In the northeast, when we were debriefing some of the arrested Boko Haram, they were able to tell us how, from the prison, they could plan operations out in the field. They pass funds across,” Musa said.

“They use some of the warders there. We are not saying all of them are corrupt. They use their accounts and the deal is that anyone whose account is used, they share it 50/50. Those are the challenges.”

Musa also complained about the country’s porous borders, claiming that there are over a thousand border crossings where people enter and exit without being checked.

He stated, “That is where we have the movement of light weapons and small arms. Human trafficking is rampant. It is important that we must establish good border control so that we can know the people coming in and going out.”

Musa added that Niger State alone had over 73 unmanned forests, saying these are places where non-state actors operate and alleged that the judiciary was frustrating the war against terrorism in the country.

“The issue of judiciary I have been in the north-east. There were a lot of Boko Haram elements that were captured. We have kept them for five/six years. We, the armed forces, can arrest but cannot prosecute,

“Some of them have been found wanting but no prosecution. We are keeping them for this lengthy period; everyone is accusing the armed forces in keeping them against their human rights but we cannot prosecute,

“Another aspect of the judiciary is that you use all your effort to make an arrest, you hand them over, and before you enter your vehicle, the man has been released on bail. Now, you have risked yourself in doing that, by the time he is released, he goes to tell the people the person that arrested him.”

In the southeast, Musa also called for the extradition of Simon Ekpa, the self-acclaimed leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), from his operational base in Finland.

He described Ekpa as a “menace” to the country and claimed that IPOB leader utterances and actions are inciting violence and undermining security in southeastern Nigeria.

“The issue of extradition is very important. I want to say it here that those who are sponsoring terrorism, those who are killing our people, we need to bring them to book.

“We need to work with our international partners to ensure that those who are sponsoring terrorism are brought to justice.”
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