Terrorists engaging home security guards, water hawkers as informants — Retired General

A former commander of the Multi-national Joint Task Force, Brig-Gen Jon Temlong (rtd), has called for more investment in security by the Nigerian government, saying the terrorists are also investing heavily on equipment.

MNJTF comprises forces, mostly military, from Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

Temlong said terrorists engaged security men guarding houses and water hawkers as informants to carry out their nefarious activities.

The retired military officer disclosed this while reacting to the spate of attacks by terrorists across the country on Channels Television’s programme, Sunrise Daily.

He expressed disappointment that Nigerians ccomplained of too much money being budgeted for security, saying the terrorists were investing so much in weapons.

While citing the example of the U.S killing of Al Qaeda chief, Ayman al-Zawahiri, he said Nigeria must invest more in the procurement of weapons.

He also said the country needed to invest in technology, saying the government could monitor terrorists’ movement and act accordingly with the use of drones.

He said, “In the last quarter of 2021, about N61 billion worth of motorcycles were imported into Nigeria. Who are those using those bikes? If we track some of these things, we should know that there is a higher demand for motorcycles and Nigerians are crying that they don’t have money.

“These are some of the security indicators for us to know that these people are not relenting, they are buying more weapons.

“Why are they asking for so much money as ransom? They are using that money to buy weapons. So, if we want to survive as a nation, we have to close our eyes and use more money to buy weapons,” he said.

He urged Nigerians to get involved in securing the country.

“The mai guards that people have in their houses, those who carry water to their houses called mai ruwa are their informants. They buy motorcycles and employ people to drive them around. So, they [terrorists] are all over within us.

“What we want now is an all-society approach. Nigerians are leaving the job of security for only security agencies to deal with.

“These people are within us, they buy their food from us, they buy their motorcycles from us, they buy fuel for the motorcycles and vehicles from us, we even repair their vehicles for them,” the security expert said.

The retired military officer expressed optimism that the security outfits across the country would escalate attacks on terrorists, following President Muhammadu Buhari’s latest directive.  (Daily Trust)