Some politicians fueling insecurity for political gain – Gen. Irabor

Former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor (retd.), has accused some politicians of exploiting and, in some cases, actively fuelling insecurity for political gain, warning that Nigeria’s security crisis is too layered and complex to be reduced to a single narrative.

Irabor, who spoke during an interview on Channels Television on Monday, offered a broad assessment of the forces driving violence across the country.

His comments come less than 24 hours after presidential aide Daniel Bwala hinted that the Federal Government would soon reveal the identities of terrorism financiers.

According to the former defence chief, Nigeria is grappling with multiple strands of insecurity, ideological extremism, politically motivated violence, criminality, community displacement and economic sabotage, all operating simultaneously.

“You can’t hold people for their views, but the reality is that our issues in terms of security challenges are multifaceted,” he said.

Irabor noted that while some violent groups are ideologically driven, others deliberately target Christians, attack specific communities, or seek to displace residents in order to assert control and influence.

“Just as we have terrorists who have an ideology, we equally have those who are bent on targeting Christians, and there are also those who are targeting communities, desiring to displace communities and wanting to stay in those communities to be able to have a voice,” he explained.

He cautioned analysts and politicians against oversimplifying the crisis, arguing that lumping all incidents under one definition obscures the reality on the ground.

“If you lump the entire thing into one, the analysis would be wrong,” he said.

Responding to claims that insecurity is entirely political, Irabor admitted that politics plays a role but not to the exclusion of other factors.

“Those who say it is political… that would also be lumping all the issues to say all other issues do not matter — that’s also not correct,” he stated.

However, he acknowledged that some political actors deliberately weaponise insecurity to gain leverage.

“That does not mean some politicians have not taken advantage of the insecurity to perhaps gain some sort of leverage; to give the impression that they can do better,” he said.

“Others perhaps want to score a point that there’s poor governance; they could also instigate crisis in one way or the other.”

Irabor’s remarks add a fresh layer to the ongoing national conversation over the drivers of Nigeria’s insecurity, especially at a time when the Federal Government is promising to expose those providing financial lifelines to terrorists.

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