He noted that the survival of the groups depends entirely on logistical lifelines provided by ordinary citizens within communities.
Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (retd.), has pointed to local complicity as a primary reason why terrorism, banditry, and insurgency remain deeply entrenched in the country.
Speaking on Friday at the Democracy Day edition of The Platform — an annual national dialogue in Lagos — the former Chief of Defence Staff emphasised that the military cannot win the war against insecurity without a fundamental shift in civic responsibility.
Addressing a packed audience on why decades of military operations have not completely eradicated armed groups, General Musa claimed that the criminal factions do not operate in a vacuum. Instead, they rely heavily on a shadow network of local sympathisers and informants.
"Banditry, insurgency, terrorism. Why does it seem so difficult to deal with it? Perhaps we have the people that are also encouraging and supporting these things from happening, because the terrorists, the bandits, survive around the people," General Musa stated.
