Boko Haram terrorists planned attacks from prison in connivance with warders – Defense Chief

VANGUARD 

The Chief of Defense Staff, General Christopher Musa, has revealed that some Boko Haram terrorists in the North-East planned attacks from the prison in connivance with prison warders. 

Musa disclosed this on Tuesday, when he appeared before the House of Representatives, alongside the service chiefs and the Inspector General of Police (IGP).

The CDS said about 73 unmanned forests have been taken over by bandits. He called for the extradition of Simon Ekpa, the self-acclaimed leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), from his operational base in Finland.

Musa decried the corrupt attitudes of some prison warders in the North-East and alleged that they aided arrested Boko Haram terrorists in planning their operations.

He stated, “The issue of correctional facilities. In the North-East, when we were debriefing some of the arrested Boko Haram, they were able to tell us how, from the prison, they could plan operations out in the field. They pass funds across.

“They use some of the warders there. We are not saying all of them are corrupt. They use their accounts, and the deal is that anyone whose account is used, they share it 50/50. Those are the challenges.”

Musa lamented that media reportage in the country often glorified bandits and terrorists but demoralised soldiers.

He said, “Most times we think security is only the responsibility of security forces. I say no, everybody has a responsibility to play.

“We can never be everywhere. So, we need educational sensitisation programmes for all Nigerians to understand that security is everybody’s responsibility. What you see, you talk about it. You don’t just keep quiet and say that this is for the police or the army. Everybody has a role…