Foundation Urges Prosecution Of Alleged Sponsors Of Terrorism

The Joshua KB Disabilities Rights and Support Initiatives has challenged the federal government to investigate and prosecute individuals accused of sponsoring killing and insurgency by Maj-Gen. Danjuma Hamisu Ali-Keffi (rtd).

Ali-Keffi, who served as head of a covert Presidential Task Force on Counter-terrorism, “Operation Service Wide” under the late President Muhammadu Buhari had alleged that the then government failed to act on his team’s report on the sponsors of terrorism in the country.

The group said the alleged actions of those involved had led to thousands of deaths and the destruction of livelihoods, while over 10,000 Nigerians had been left physically, emotionally and economically disabled.

It warned that sweeping the allegations under the carpet would deepen a culture of impunity and pose a grave danger to national security.

The executive secretary of the organisation, Joshua Kingsley Benneth, in a statement yesterday, urged the President Bola Tinubu-led administration to demonstrate political will by ordering a thorough inquiry.

He said the probe and prosecution would reassure Nigerians whose lives had been shattered by insecurity and signal to the international community the seriousness of the matter.

Benneth noted that available records as of June 2021 showed that over 7,000 soldiers and personnel of other security agencies were wounded in counter-insurgency operations.

He added that a Nigerian Army report from November 2020 indicated that more than 700 soldiers had undergone amputations after sustaining injuries in the fight against Boko Haram.

“Considering that these figures were recorded years ago, with the crisis still ongoing, the number of those maimed for life or pushed into disability is unimaginable,” he said.

He added that daily killings, kidnappings and attacks by non-state actors continued to swell the population of persons living with disabilities.

The group cautioned the government against complacency amid renewed efforts to tackle insecurity, including the appointment of a former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, as minister of defence.