Group backs crackdown on financiers of terror, urges support for Buhari’s agenda to end insecurity

The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has expressed support to the ongoing nationwide crackdown on suspected financiers and collaborators of Boko Haram and other criminal groups in the country, describing the action as long overdue.

In a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, BMO noted that going after the drivers, go-betweens and collaborators of terrorism is a significant step in accomplishing President Muhammadu Buhari’s New Year pledge to tackle the scourge of insecurity bedevilling the country decisively.

“Reports that dozens of suspects have been rounded up and are being interrogated by the security agencies is indeed heartening and points to serious determination by the Buhari administration to get to the roots of the spate of insecurity that has plagued the country in recent times. No suspect should be spared, no matter their position in society”, the group stated.

“The investigation leading to the arrests is a significant breakthrough in the war against terrorism. Money is the oxygen of terrorism, and once the sources are cut off, we expect the dwindling capacity of the terrorists.

“We are encouraged at the intelligence vigour applied by the security agencies in unravelling the unpatriotic Nigerians that are not only funding terrorism but making it an economic enterprise. It is a reflection of the fact that the Buhari’s government had been busy engaging terrorism at its roots, in addition to the various successes being recorded in the kinetic assaults on the terrorists.”

BMO commended the nation’s security agencies and collaborating institutions in the investigations leading to the arrests, which shows that the nation’s security sector is highly competent and alive to its responsibilities to secure and protect the citizens.

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“We have implicit faith in our nation’s security institutions to sift through the information they have already received, professionally, and to arrest more suspects as the need arises. We equally expect them to hunt down the sponsors and funders of groups and individuals terrorising any parts of this country under whatever guise”.

The group also called on the Federal Government to ensure a thorough and painstaking review of the business operations of Bureaus de Change, where certain unscrupulous people are believed to be taking undue advantage of an eased operational environment and sustenance regime created by this administration to facilitate the transfer of funds for terrorist activities.

“We urge the Central Bank to urgently undertake a review of BDC operations, their uses and application of the vital national resource passing through their hands and to ensure they are not actively sabotaging the nation’s economy or security.

“While encouraging the security agencies to have judicial due process in mind in their review of the cases of arrested suspects, we equally urge them to prioritise the imperatives of national security and do whatever is necessary to incapacitate the funding and logistical support network of these criminal groups and return Nigeria to peace and security in line with President Buhari’s agenda”.

BMO called on Nigerians to complement the efforts of the nation’s security agencies and the government by providing operational intelligence to help remove the veils on those sustaining the war against the peace and well-being of Nigerians.