Soldiers sell arms to survive in North East, by naval officer

A Naval officer, Commodore, Jamila Malafa, yesterday, relived how soldiers deployed for the anti-insurgency fight in the North East sell arms to survive. She also accused Western nations of fuelling terrorism in the region.

Malafa said the amount of ammunition supplied to Nigeria as an aid for counter-terrorism war was a “deliberate act to worsen the situation, as soldiers, who become financially broke sell the arms at their disposal cheaply to survive.”

Speaking at the public hearing of the House of Representatives Committee on National Security and Intelligence in Abuja that is considering four bills geared at tackling the worsening insecurity in the country, the naval official accused foreign nations of sustaining terrorism in Nigeria.

Stating that she has spent a long time in the troubled zone fighting the Boko Haram sect, Malafa insisted: “The foreign nations supplying arms to this country to fight insurgency are not sincere. They make these arms available in excess to the soldiers fighting this war. One soldier sleeps on over 30 ammunitions, and anytime he is broke, he brings them out and sells between $20 and $30.”