How terrorists fund their operations, attacks – Defence chief Musa

• He stated that terror sponsors deploy complex networks, including international connections, which make it difficult to immediately expose or prosecute them

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, has shared an insight into how terrorists wreaking havoc in some parts of Nigeria have kept their nefarious activities and atrocities going.

He disclosed that the terrorists have moved away from conventional means of funding their operations in Nigeria with cash and are increasingly using gold as a means to finance their activities.

General Musa, made the disclosure on Thursday when he appeared on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme.

He stated that terror sponsors deploy complex networks, including international connections, which make it difficult to immediately expose or prosecute them.

When asked about the main source of financing for these groups, the defence chief replied, “Gold. They try to circulate this money, and that is why we need to be able to track these things.

“The process is on. It has to do with a lot of legal issues, and because it has to do with international connections, some of them have funds coming from outside, we cannot do anything from within.”

General Musa further disclosed that locally, terror groups use individuals by providing them with motorcycles and small jobs, with the expectation that they remit money into designated accounts daily.

“The process is on. It has to do with a lot of legal issues, and because it has to do with international connections, some of them have funds coming from outside, we cannot do anything from within.

“The local ones, what they do normally is that they try to employ a few individuals, provide motorcycles to them, something to do, and those are remitting funds daily into some account,” he said