Ex-Sports Minister Pressures Government to Name Terror Sponsors

If the Federal Government wants Nigerians to think it is genuinely combating terrorism and insurgency in the nation, Solomon Dalung, the former minister of sports, has urged it to make the names of terrorists’ sponsors public.

Despite several assurances and growing evidence that it claimed to have obtained, the Nigerian government has continually failed to identify or prosecute the country’s terrorist sponsors and funders, according to the legislator from Plateau State who made the request in a statement on Thursday.

Dalung said in the statement that the government has turned to havoc and half-truths rather than taking decisive action quickly.

Dalung quoted Yusuf Gagdi, the representative of the Pankshin/Kanke/Kanam Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, as saying that the government’s unwillingness to identify and prosecute terror sponsors and Gagdi’s strong opposition to the idea of establishing a state police were both hypocritical and ridiculous.

Even in Gagdi’s own Plateau State constituency, he emphasized, attacks, kidnappings, murders, and relocation have occurred, and there has been little accountability.

Dalung disputed Gagdi’s assertion that state police under governors are unreliable, claiming that the security system under federal administration has not performed any better.

Dalung also recalled claims made against a number of public people for serving as terrorist sponsors and questioned why the DSS had not invited the fingered individuals to be questioned.

According to media reports, Senator Shehu Buba of Bauchi South has been suspected of assisting terrorists; however, Dalung stated that there is no evidence that the DSS invited him.

Additionally, he asserted that whereas former Kaduna State Governor Nasiru El-Rufai has accused National Security Advisor (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu of aiding bandits on multiple occasions, he has not been detained or charged.

Additionally, the former Minister said that Gen. Christopher Musa, the Chief of Defense Staff, had earlier pledged to make the names of funders public, but that pledge had not been kept.

Previous incidents, such as the alleged submission of Nigerian terrorist sponsors’ identities to the government by the United Arab Emirates, are still recent, but the accusations have not been made public or prosecuted.

Nigeria is getting close to a tipping point. Nigeria faces more instability, dislocation, and a decline in public faith in the government until identities are made public, prosecutions are started, and constitutional changes like A’s state and community policing are implemented, he underlined.