A coalition of over 73 Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) has protested against the allegations by the former Air Officer Commanding (AOC) one of the operations commands in the fight against terrorism.
In a recent report, the unnamed AOC alleged that NGOs had made the anti-terrorism battle difficult to execute. He was quoted as saying: “If Nigeria is serious about ending terrorism, banditry and kidnapping, the first thing to do is to send all the NGO’s in the North-East, North-West and North-Central zones of the country packing. They should be given 72 hours ultimatum to leave. From several intelligence findings and on field experience, it has been established that many of these NGOs and agencies are the ones providing sponsorship and funding covertly to these terrorists”.
In the same report, retired generals across the three arms of the military who had been involved in the war against insurgency in Nigeria, especially Boko Haram, were also reported to have said that some “NGOs, international agencies and vested interests have helped to sustain terrorism and other violent crimes in the country”.
But in a statement jointly signed by the coalitions, they said: “We strongly condemn this act of stigmatizing, smearing, defaming and targeting the NGO sector which is inconsistent with meaningfully attending to the genuine threats of terrorism in our country.
“Rather than confronting the systemic failures that have allowed terrorism to thrive in Nigeria, these claims attempt to shift blame onto the very organisations that have stepped into the void to support communities abandoned by the Nigerian state.
“These accusations, devoid of proof, serve only to erode public trust, distract from the real issues, and undermine the critical work being done in some of the country’s most challenging environments.
“The Nigerian government and military leadership address the real reasons terrorism persists, including but not limited to rampant poverty and inequality, porous borders, corruption and inefficiency in defence spending.
“The Nigerian security apparatus should focus its efforts and manpower on disrupting terrorist funding and logistics networks rather than scapegoating civil society. It must also enhance intelligence gathering and operational capacity to secure lives and properties.
“The government must engage constructively with NGOs to address the root causes of insecurity and alleviate the suffering of affected communities understanding.
“That civil society can meaningfully generate peace and development, including implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and can clearly articulate the sources of grievances identified as factors leading to terrorist and extremist violence.
“This pattern of baseless accusations is a disservice to Nigerians and undermines the very principles of accountability and justice that we all seek to uphold.
“The undersigned calls for caution as inflammatory statements such as this news article attributed to an unnamed former Air Officer Commanding (AOC) of the Nigerian Air Force could lead to attacks on humanitarian actors further deepening the crisis we are aiming to solve”.
