A prominent Islamic cleric has asked the federal government to employ the country’s security budget in addressing demands of bandits instead of waging war against them.
A Look At Nigeria’s Security Budget From 2015 to 2020
- In 2015, President Buhari approved the allocation of N969 billion for security
- In 2016, N1.06 trillion was allocated.
- N1.14 trillion was budgeted for security in 2017
- N1.35 trillion in 2018
- N1.76 trillion in 2019
- N1.78 trillion in 2020
The Cleric’s Advice
Ahmad Gumi who recently visited bandits at the Tubali and Makkai forests in Shinkafi local government area of Zamfara state asked for the government to desist from fighting banditry with war but with peace.
In defence of the bandits, the cleric said most of them had lost all their possessions to cattle rustling and extortion by some corrupt security agents.
The cleric said the funds deployed in fighting insecurity in the region could have been used to address the needs of armed Fulani, including provision of basic amenities and training.
“Such billions would be more than enough if judiciously used to address all the demands of the armed Fulani, including providing them with basic amenities, training them and providing them with the needed capital,” he said.
The Rate of Insecurity From 2015 To 2020
Data from Trading Economics shows that despite the increase in security expenditure, the cumulative deaths by bandits and insurgents totaled at 10,591.
From 2015 till date, 17,957 persons were killed by Boko Haram.
Data from Nigeria Security Tracker show that sectarian violence has almost doubled since 2017. The NST documented 2,037 deaths through all of 2018, compared to 1,041 sectarian-related deaths in all of 2017- a 48.9% increase in sectarian casualties.
A total of 11,204 persons have been killed in acts of violence by sectarian groups in Nigeria from 2015 till January 2021.