Former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor (retd.), has cautioned that Nigeria’s security crisis is being manipulated by some political actors seeking advantage ahead of elections, insisting that the nation’s challenges are too layered to blame on a single cause.
Irabor gave the warning during an interview on Channels Television on Monday, where he broke down the evolving patterns of violence affecting different regions of the country.
His remarks came less than 24 hours after presidential aide Daniel Bwala revealed that the Federal Government was preparing to publicly expose individuals bankrolling terrorism.
Speaking on the complexity of the situation, Irabor stressed that Nigeria is simultaneously grappling with ideological extremism, criminal violence, politically-driven unrest and economically-motivated attacks.
“You can’t hold people for their views, but the reality is that our security challenges are multifaceted,” he said. “Just as we have terrorists with an ideology, we also have those targeting Christians, those attacking communities to displace them, and others driven purely by criminal motives.”
He warned against oversimplifying the crisis: “If you lump the entire thing into one, the analysis would be wrong.”
Responding to claims that insecurity is primarily political, the former defence chief said political interests play a role but do not explain the full picture.
“Those who say it is political would be lumping all issues together and ignoring other drivers — and that’s not correct,” he noted.
Irabor, however, admitted that some political figures deliberately exploit or inflame tension to project government weakness or create an impression that they can offer better leadership.
“That does not mean some politicians have not taken advantage of insecurity to gain leverage. Others may instigate crises to score points about poor governance,” he added.
His comments come at a time of renewed national concern over escalating violence and a government push to identify those enabling or benefiting from the unrest.
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