The United Nations Development Programme, (UNDP) and some Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have called on the Federal Government to prioritise funding for security operations.

While commending the swift nature in which security agencies swing into action in resolving security challenges in the country, UNDP and the CSOs called on the Minister of State for Finance and the Accountant General of the Federation to ensure swift release of funding for the Nigerian Army and the defence sectors, with emphasis made on prioritising payment of backlog and future obligatory payments timely and in full.

They further underpinned swift compliance and consideration as impetus for safeguarding the economy at large via the security sector.

While commending the Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Doris Azuka, for salvaging the nation’s economic challenges through clearance of contractors’ debt, they called for the payment of funds for security operations swiftly and in full.

UNDP through its Peace-building and Conflict Prevention and rule of law cluster under the Northeast and Northwest Prevention Facility also noted that aside from the Boko Haram menace in the Northeast region, the Northwest region of Nigeria have experienced a significant increase in conflicts, primarily driven by inter-communal clashes between the nomadic herders and farmers, resource disputes, ethnic tensions, armed and organised criminal activities – banditry.

These conflicts, they added, have resulted in loss of lives, displacement of communities, and socio-economic instability.