As Buhari spends N14tn to combat insecurity, killings continue

According to an analysis, the Federal Government of Nigeria has allotted a total of N14,063,279,559,996 to various security agencies and their coordinating ministries from 2015 until 2023. This comes amid a rise in the number of murders.

For a period of eight years, the allocations were detailed in the Appropriation Bills that were posted on the website maintained by the Budget Office of the Federation.

According to the breakdown, the Ministry of Police Affairs received N4,956,267,942 in funding for the year 2015; the Ministry of Interior received N156,220,022,460; the Ministry of Defence received N375,497,219,431; the Police Service Commission received N990,477,185; police formations and commands received N321,622,224,611; and the Office of the National Security Adviser received N88,726,771,998.

It was budgeted that the PSC would receive a total of N980,705,292 in 2016, while the Ministry of Defence would receive N443,077,795,159, the Ministry of Interior would receive N513,655,831,565, and the NSA would receive N21, 007,059,483.

Also in 2017, the budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Defence was N465,488,229,573, the Ministry of the Interior received N545,630,780,046, the National Security Agency received N110,490,229,417, and the Public Service Commission received N1,967,172,630.

PSC had a budget of N1,472,026,629 in 2018, while the Ministry of Defence had a budget of N567,433,895,517, the Ministry of Interior had a budget of N574,134,520,760, and the NSA had a budget of N121,730,943,684.

In the Appropriation Act for 2019, the office of the NSA was allocated N120,712,711,220, while the Ministry of Defence was allocated N589,955,110,099, the Ministry of Interior was allocated N617,901,064,592, and the PSC was allocated N1,751,274,031.

The Public Service Commission had a budget of N1,369,586,675, the National Security Agency had a budget of N144,326,228,206, the Ministry of Police Affairs had a budget of N410,532,262,631, the Ministry of Interior had a budget of N253,493,565,095, and the Ministry of Defence had a budget of N900,770,634,390.

The Ministry of Defence had a budget of N966,410,067,089 in 2021; the Ministry of Police Affairs had a budget of N455,134,536,905; the National Security Agency had a budget of N179,742,734,268; the Ministry of Interior had a budget of N271,666,471,225; and the Public Service Commission had a budget of N1,647,175,806.

In 2022, the budgetary allocations were as follows: N1,200,712,724,376 for the Ministry of Defence; N559,106,745,837 for the Ministry of Police Affairs; N294,575,137,624 for the Ministry of the Interior; N1,158,657,748 for the Public Service Commission; and N214,708,002,009 for the National Security Agency.

The budgetary allocations for the various security agencies and coordinating ministries in 2023 are as follows: N813,912,057,660 for the Ministry of Police Affairs; N1,248,170,610,116 for the Ministry of Defence; N304,395,280,926 for the Ministry of Interior; N195,018,151,836 for the National Security Agency; and N1,026,626,250 for the Public Service Commission.

The country’s precarious security situation has worsened in spite of the enormous budgetary allocations. A number of states have deteriorated into a killing field, and kidnappings for ransom have tainted the government’s reputation.

In the recent past, bandits took at least eighty people hostage in the state of Zamfara.

15 people were killed when armed men attacked the village of Garin Baka, located in the Ardo-Kola Local Government Area of Taraba State, on March 31, 2023.

On April 4, bandits seized 32 hostages, including two police officers, in the state of Niger.

On April 7, bandits attacked a camp for internally displaced people located in the state of Benue, and they were responsible for the deaths of over forty of those people.

A similar attack took place in the village of Umogidi, which is located in the Enetekpa Adoka district of the Otukpo Local Government Area of the state. At least 50 people were killed in this attack.

At Ruji in Kaduna, 33 persons were killed on April 17, 2023.

The most recent incident was the Plateau crisis, in which a total of 125 dead bodies were found and subsequently buried in a mass grave.

The Defence Headquarters stated that the inability of troops to prevent some of the attacks in the region was due to the vastness of some areas in the northern parts of the country as well as the lack of timely information from citizens.

As long as the people living in these areas continue to work with the military, there will be no safe haven for terrorists, according to the military’s highest command, who noted this fact.

During the biweekly briefing of the military that took place on Thursday in Abuja, the Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Musa Danmadami, gave a speech while also fielding questions from journalists.

He stated, “The region is very large, so it is safe to assume that there are ungoverned areas within those gaps.” However, I can say with absolute certainty that as far as the military is concerned, there is no place for these terrorists to hide as long as there is cooperation with the general populace and they continue to report information to us. There is no place for them to hide because, as we have already told you, operations are taking place all across this country, and there is no way to escape them.

He referred to the Jos incident as a misfortune and emphasised the significance of receiving information in a timely manner, adding that there would be very little that the soldiers could do in the event of an attack. He went on to say that timely information was essential.