By Darlington Onedibe
The ongoing battle against insecurity cannot be won without decisively cutting off the financial lifelines and illicit weapon supply chains fueling insurgent groups.
​This assertion was made by elder statesman and former Secretary-General of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Anthony Sani, who identified terrorism financing and the proliferation of small arms as the most critical bottlenecks in restoring absolute peace to affected regions.
​Speaking on the persistent nature of security threats, Sani emphasized that military action alone is insufficient if the infrastructure supporting criminal networks remains intact. He noted that the resilience of terrorist groups relies heavily on their ability to move funds and acquire sophisticated weaponry.
​”The real drivers of prolonged insecurity are the uninterrupted flows of funds and weapons,” Sani stated. “Until we choke these supply lines, we are merely treating the symptoms rather than curing the disease.”
​To effectively counter these deep-seated challenges, Sani advocated for a multi-pronged approach. By strengthening the capacity of financial intelligence units to track and freeze illicit funds linked to kidnapping-for-ransom and international terrorism networks.
By modernizing border surveillance to intercept the illegal influx of small arms and light weapons through porous frontiers and enhancing intelligence sharing and joint operations with neighboring countries to disrupt transnational criminal syndicates.
​Sani concluded by urging citizens and stakeholders to support security agencies, stressing that actionable local intelligence is vital to uncovering internal collaborators who facilitate logistics and financing for these criminal elements.
