Over $200bn national assets lost to terrorism, militancy

Maj. Gen. Babagana Monguno, the national security adviser, has expressed alarm over the recent wave of attacks on vital national assets throughout the six geopolitical regions of the nation.

The NSA emphasized that there was a need to develop and constantly review methods to handle dynamic threats to the nation’s infrastructure, despite the fact that he claimed the government has deployed both kinetic and non-kinetic mechanisms to protect these assets.

At the Tuesday validation exercise for the Critical National Assets and Infrastructure National Protection Policy and Strategy 2023 in Abuja, Monguno spoke through the Principal General Staff Officer, Office of the National Security Adviser, Maj. Gen. Sadiq Ndalolo.

“Bandits and terrorist organizations target the transportation network and educational institutions in the North West,” he declared. These gangs’ presence further poses serious security risks to the area, particularly in the area of the Kainji and Shiroro dams.

Attacks on critical infrastructure in the South-East, including police stations and security checkpoints, are thought to have been planned by members of the Eastern Security Network.

Armed robberies directed at banks and other financial institutions, as well as willful destruction of public infrastructure in the wake of unrest, have posed significant dangers to important national assets and infrastructure in the South-West.

Meanwhile, insurgent activity, particularly pipeline damage and oil theft, is the main cause of attacks on assets and infrastructure in the South-South. Piracy is yet another difficulty Nigeria’s maritime sector, which crosses the border, faces. As shipping premium insurance for ships grew in reaction to piracy worries, the threat came dangerously close to crippling the maritime transportation supply chain. However, the fact that this threat has been greatly reduced by the Nigerian Navy and other maritime stakeholders is quite comforting.

Ahmed Audi, the Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, claimed that since 1999, threats against vital assets have cost the nation an estimated $200 billion even though the country has a $3 trillion infrastructure gap.

The economic losses brought on by the threats against CNAI, he claimed, are incalculable in monetary terms. Despite terrorism, insurgency, banditry, militancy, vandalism, the EndSARS protest, the COVID-19 epidemic, and other factors, some estimates place the cost at above $200 billion since 1999. This occurred in a nation with an estimated $3 trillion infrastructure deficit. Threats to CNAI cause us to move one step forward and two steps back while we work to close this gap.

The document, he continued, was timely given the threat to key infrastructure and national assets posed by new security risks.