Nigeria ranked 2nd most terrorised country despite over N11trn security budgets

Nigeria has ranked as the second most attacked and terrorised country in the world behind Iraq and above Syria which took the third position despite budget allocation of over N11 trillion to security from 2015 to 2022.

This is according to the half year report spanning January to June 2022 by Jihad Analytics, which specializes in collating data on terrorist’s activities worldwide.

According to the report, Iraq recorded 337 terrorists attacks, Nigeria recorded 305 attacks while Syria recorded 142 terrorists attacks within the period under review.

Boko Haram/ISWAP Terrorist group was mostly responsible for the attacks according to the report.

The report is coming against the backdrop of repeated claim’s by the President Buhari administration that terrorists have been decimated and terrorism reduced to the barest minimum.

Since coming into office in 2015, Buhari’s administration has earmarked N11.18 trillion for security budget.

This figure covers budgetary allocations to the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Police Affairs, National Security Adviser and the Police Service Commission.

Based on the Appropriation Act available on the website of the Budget Office of the Federation, the yearly allocation to the security agencies are as follows:

2015: N626.39 billion
2016: N978.72 billion
2017: N1.12 trillionn
2018: N1.26 trillion
2019: N1.33 trillion
2020: N1.71 trillion
2021: N1.87 trillion.
2022: N2.27trillion, an inrease of 262.39 per cent from the 2015 allocation.

Meanwhile, President Buhari on April 4, 2018, approved $1bn for military equipment, following a meeting with security chiefs at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The Ministry of Defence had purchased equipment for the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, and the Defence Intelligence Agency worth $99.5m, out of the $1bn approved by the President, The PUNCH reported.

In 2018, Buhari told the National Assembly that he had ordered the payment of $496m to the United States Government for the purchase of 12 Tucano aircraft ahead of legislative approval to withdraw the $1bn fund from the Excess Crude Account.

However, in March 2021, the $1bn arms fund was engulfed in controversy when the National Security Adviser, Maj Gen Babagana Monguno (retd.), alleged that the $1bn meant to purchase arms to tackle the insurgency had gone missing.