Solomon Dalung, a former minister of sports, has urged the Federal Government to make the names of terrorists’ sponsors public if it hopes to give Nigerians the impression that it is genuinely combating insurgency and terrorism in the nation.
The politician, who was born in Plateau State, made the call in a statement on Thursday, accusing the Nigerian government of repeatedly failing to identify or bring charges against those who sponsor and finance terrorism in the nation in spite of numerous assurances and growing evidence that it said it had gathered.
Dalung said in the statement that the government has turned to half-truth and diversions rather than swift and decisive action.
Dalung pointed to recent remarks made by Yusuf Gagdi, the representative for the Pankshin/Kanke/Kanam Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, who strongly opposed the establishment of a state police. Dalung claimed that Gagdi’s position and the government’s unwillingness to identify and bring charges against terror sponsors were both ridiculous and hypocritical.
He emphasized that attacks, kidnappings, murders, and displacement have occurred even in Gagdi’s own Plateau State constituency, and that there has been little accountability for these incidents.
Dalung disputed Gagdi’s claim that state police are unreliable under governors, claiming that the security system run by the federal government hasn’t performed any better.
Dalung also recalled claims that a number of public figures had sponsored terrorists and questioned why the DSS had not invited the people who were fingered to be questioned.
“There is no evidence that Senator Shehu Buba of Bauchi South was invited by the DSS, despite media reports accusing him of aiding terrorists,” Dalung stated. Additionally, he asserted that NSA Nuhu Ribadu has not been detained or charged despite former Kaduna State Governor Nasiru El-Rufai’s repeated accusations that he supports bandits.
The former minister added that Gen. Christopher Musa, the Chief of Defense Staff, had previously pledged to make the names of financiers public, but that pledge had not been kept.
Examples from the past, such as when the UAE allegedly provided the government with the names of Nigerian terrorist sponsors, are still recent, but the accusations have not been made public or prosecuted.
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