Military hawks siphon N6.1 trillion from counter-insurgency, others

The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) has alleged Nigeria’s military brass stole N6.1 trillion arms budget in the last 20 years.

The group made the conclusion in their report of a study it conducted on insecurity has been monetized in Nigeria.

According to the report, successive presidents’ failure to rein in corruption in the security sector has weakened Nigerian counter-terrorism capacity.

Other arms of government also feature in the damage.

“Thanks to lax legislative oversight, excessive secrecy and the fact that security spending is largely exempt from due process rules designed to prevent corruption.

“Successive presidents’ failure to rein in security sector corruption is a highly consequential anti-corruption failure. It has led to widespread insecurity, verging on instability, and has weakened Nigerian counter-terrorism capacity, allowing groups like Boko Haram to smoulder.

“Over the last decade, political and security elite have monetised the conflicts and the resulting humanitarian crises.

“During the same period, military leaders allegedly stole as much as $15bn through fraudulent arms procurement deals; thanks to lax legislative oversight, excessive secrecy and the fact that security spending is largely exempt from due process rules designed to prevent corruption.

“No individual, body or corporation had been convicted in Nigeria for funding terrorism since the insurgency started in 2009 despite promises by the current administration to expose those behind sponsorship of criminals,” the stated.