Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (rtd), has declared that the ongoing battle against insecurity in the country will only end when citizens are genuinely ready and willing to embrace change by cutting off support to criminal elements.
Speaking on Friday at an event organised by The Platform Nigeria to mark the June 12 Democracy Day celebration, the Defence Minister attributed the lingering challenges of terrorism and banditry to the direct complicity of some individuals within local communities.
He stressed that the armed forces and security agencies alone cannot eradicate these threats if the public continues to harbour and enable perpetrators.
“Everything involves the people; if they are ready and willing to change, change will occur. and if the people are not willing, nothing will not happen,” Musa stated, emphasising that true transformation relies heavily on collective societal responsibility.
Addressing the persistence of criminal activities across various regions, the minister questioned the underlying factors sustaining the violence, noting that terrorists and bandits operate effectively because they receive crucial lifelines from the populations they live among.
“And i can tell what is going on with the challenge we have in the country, why does it seem so difficult to deal with it? Perhaps, we have the people that are also encouraging and supporting this thing to happen, because the terrorists and, bandits survive around the people,” he explained.
Musa further highlighted the specific ways in which community members facilitate the operations of these criminal networks, describing local support as the essential element that keeps insurgency alive in the nation.
“There are several stories of how people are hidden, by giving them food, water, and information and these are the things that keep them going. We call the oxygen. Who are those funding them, who are those giving logistics that, information that keep them going, it is still the people. The most dangerous is when the enermy is within,” the minister concluded.
He urged Nigerians to reject actions that weaken national resolve and called for a united front to assist security agencies by reporting suspicious activities and starving criminal networks of the logistics and intelligence they need to survive.
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