By Abdullahi Alhassan, Kaduna
Following the allegations by former Air Officer Commanding (AOC) of the Nigerian Air Force published in the Vanguard Newspapers of Jan 16, 2025 with the headline “Why Boko Haram, bandits thrive: How NGOs, others aid terrorists – Former Generals, Commanders”, recklessly accusing NGOs in the North-East, North-West, and North-Central regions of providing covert sponsorship and funding to terrorists.
Against this, the Coalition of over 73 non – governmental organizations has kicked against the allegations by the former unnamed Air Officer Commanding (AOC) in the Nigeria Air Force.
In a Press statement jointly signed and made available to newsmen by the Coalition reads in part: “We strongly condemn this act of stigmatizing, smearing, defaming and targeting the NGO sector which is inconsistent with meaningfully attending to the genuine threats of terrorism in our country.
The statement added “Rather than confronting the systemic failures that have allowed terrorism to thrive in Nigeria, these claims attempt to shift blame onto the very organizations that have stepped into the void to support communities abandoned by the Nigerian state.
These accusations, devoid of proof, serve only to erode public trust, distract from the real issues, and undermine the critical work being done in some of the country’s most challenging environments.
“The Nigerian government and military leadership address the real reasons terrorism persists, including but not limited to rampant poverty and inequality, porous borders, corruption and inefficiency in defence spending.
“The Nigerian Security Apparatus should focus its efforts and manpower on disrupting terrorist funding and logistics networks rather than scapegoating civil society. It must also enhance intelligence gathering and operational capacity to secure lives and properties.
“The government must engage constructively with NGOs to address the root causes of insecurity and alleviate the suffering of affected communities understanding.
“That civil society can meaningfully generate peace and development, including implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and can clearly articulate the sources of grievances identified as factors leading to terrorist and extremist violence.
“This pattern of baseless accusations is a disservice to Nigerians and undermines the very principles of accountability and justice that we all seek to uphold.
“The undersigned calls for caution as inflammatory statements such as this news article attributed to an unnamed former Air Officer Commanding (AOC) of the Nigerian Air Force could lead to attacks on humanitarian actors further deepening the crisis we are aiming to solve.