Terrorists are using motorcycles distributed as palliatives, defence minister warns

Motorcycles handed out as palliatives can end up with terrorists and give them the mobility to evade security forces, Nigeria’s defence minister said.

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We try to appeal to even governors to stop giving motorcycles out as palliatives. Because these motorcycles are the same ones that still end up with these terrorists.

Christopher Musa urged state governors and lawmakers to stop distributing motorcycles through aid and constituency programmes. If motorcycles must be provided, he said, authorities should avoid high-capacity models that terrorists can use to travel quickly through difficult terrain.

“We try to appeal to even governors to stop giving motorcycles out as palliatives. Because these motorcycles are the same ones that still end up with these terrorists,” Musa said during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today.

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Even if you have to give, don’t give them the big capacity motorcycles, give them the small capacity ones that they won’t be able to use to run around, because that gives them leverage.

The minister said security agencies had identified illegal markets and illicit motor parks as routes for moving arms and ammunition into areas where terrorists operate. He also called for greater involvement by local governments, arguing that their proximity to communities gives them an advantage in identifying criminals and preventing crime.

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What we realize from experience is they establish illegal markets or illicit motor parks. They go to those motor parks, that’s where they move arms and ammunition into those areas.

“Crime and development is local,” Musa said. He urged local government chairmen to hold weekly security meetings, monitor developments in their areas and report them to the relevant authorities.

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Crime and development is local.