Former Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai (rtd), has denied being responsible for the failure to publicly disclose the names of individuals allegedly financing terrorism in Nigeria during his tenure as Army Chief (July 2015-January 2021).

Gen. Buratai, who spoke on Friday on Channels Television’s political programme, Politics Today, stated that relevant government agencies are already aware of those behind terror financing. 

According to him: “You cannot say I should be responsible for naming the financiers of terror.

“It’s not just about mentioning names. Those agencies know why the names are not released.

“Action should be taken. These individuals are still within society today, and they are known.

“I take responsibility for certain things that are strictly the Nigerian Army’s responsibility.”

He also claimed that the decision to rehabilitate repentant Boko Haram/Islamic State West Africa Province (BH/ISWAP) terrorists was not taken by the Nigerian Army but by the government.

“The initial concept that we had was that we gave them a timeline to surrender in 2016, and if they surrendered, we gave them a free passage and handed them over to appropriate agencies to rehabilitate them,” he added.

Buratai further lamented the worsening security situation in the country, stressing the need for improved intelligence gathering to tackle insecurity.

He also urged the government to recruit more security personnel to strengthen efforts aimed at making the country safer.