The Nigerian Army has accused some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) of supplying food items and drugs to Boko Haram fighters.
This is not the first time the Army will be alleging sabotage on the part of NGOs operating in the North-East, where military operations have continued against suspected terrorist elements.
The Acting Director of Army Public Relations (DAPR), Col. Sagir Musa, who made the disclosure in a statement yesterday, said the allegation followed the arrest and subsequent interrogation of a “Terrorist Commander”, one Mohammed Modu.
“The Nigerian Army (NA), through the Theatre Command, Operation Lafiya Dole, has once again received disturbing reports indicating that the war against Boko Haram terrorists is being sabotaged by some stakeholders operating in the North-East,” Musa said.
According to him, “This unfortunate development came to the fore with the arrest of a high profile Boko Haram Terrorist Commander, one Mohammed Modu – an Amir in the Abubakar Shekau’s faction – by troops of 251Task Force Battalion Operation Lafiya Dole on Sunday the 26 of May 2019.
“Preliminary investigations conducted so far, have revealed that the Abubakar Shekau’s faction of Boko Haram has been receiving so-called “humanitarian support” of food and drugs supplies from some NGOs operating in the North-East Theatre.”
Consequently, the Army has warned the unnamed organisations against engaging in acts that compromise national security, saying armed conflict laws must be adhered to.
“In the light of these disturbing disclosures, especially as it pertains to serious security breaches by NGOs providing logistics support to terrorists, the NA strongly warns the affected agencies to desist from compromising Nigeria’s national security and war efforts against terrorism and operate in accordance with the extant rules and regulations guiding the operations of humanitarian aid workers, and in line with the guidelines and procedures of International Humanitarian Laws as well as the Laws of Armed Conflict.
“The NA wishes to remind the NGOs in the North-East and members of the public at large that similar concerns were raised on this same issue previously. Thus, the NA will no longer tolerate such acts of sabotage inimical to the fight against terrorism by any organisation or agency, and will not hesitate to sanction any such recalcitrant organization as appropriate,” the Army noted.