Lawrence Nwimo, Awka
Human Rights Group, International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) has said that an estimated N2.8trillion belonging to the people of South-East and South-South regions was lost at gunpoint in three years.
The group which said the extortion spanned from July 2020 to July 2023 disclosed that “the whopping amount of $3.5billion had risen from ‘blue-collar’ corruption and other corrupt practices perpetrated by armed state actors and armed non-state actors cutting across the eleven old Eastern Nigerian States of Edo, Delta, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo, Abia, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Rivers a period covering July 2020 to July 2023.”
In a special report signed by its Chairman, Mr Emeka Umeagbalasi, the group said after its investigation that it found that money totaling N2.8trillion “which are proceeds from state actor and non-state actor criminal activities had come from police and military roadblocks (N670b), Governors’ squandered security votes (N400billion), extortions by militant Government agencies (N700b), police security to VIPs/institutions (N30b), military/police house burnings/lootings (N150b), ransoms/robberies by armed non-state criminal entities (N400b) and other crime proceeds from armed non-state criminal entities (N200B).”
According to the CSO, “the estimated N660billion police/military roadblock extortions were estimated N200billion arising from ‘police custodial extortions (.i.e. ‘bail fees’ and ‘cash mobilization’ for arrests, investigations and court arraignments), alleging that an estimated sum of N60 billion was also linked to gunpoint seizure and conversion of “crime proceeds” by various police crack squads across the eleven Eastern States (.i.e. gunpoint money transfers and cash seizure and conversion of the seized automobiles, motorcycles and other expensive personal belongings) especially those seized from the slain and the arrested citizens undergoing criminal investigations.”
It said the current report was a follow-up of main Report of Tuesday, July 18, 2023 which identified six major triggers of insecurity and other unsafe conditions threatening Nigeria with genocide or complex humanitarian catastrophes in the past eight years or since June 2015.
Recall that the 18th July 2023 report of the group had graphically traced the present insecurity and other unsafe conditions to former President Muhammad Buhari Government’s quest to plunge Nigeria into Afghan modeled “Islamic Caliphate” among others.
“It has long become a history in Nigeria or any part thereof to find a retired or serving security chief that lives within the ambit of his or her statutory remunerations (salaries and allowances). Most of them are strongly believed to be living over 90 times more than their statutory remunerations. Their chronically corrupted lifestyles are majorly oiled by ‘extortion-racketeering’ through “official armed robberies” while the rest come from “white-collar criminalities” such as pen robberies.
“These “Criminal Monies” after being illicitly generated later end up being channeled into acquisition of movable and immovable choice properties that have sprung up from left, right and center of Nigeria and beyond its shores including “Four-Star/Five-Star” hotels, plazas, hostels, petrol and gas stations, manufacturing industries, real estate investments; and ‘moveable’ investments in banks, manufacturing industries, multinational companies, telecommunications and private mansions within and outside the country.
“Intersociety has grandly found that armed State actors and militant Government extortionist Agencies had in the past three years of July 2020 to July 2023 stolen seven times more than non-State criminal entities. While the former stole total of N2.2trillion (about 78.5%), the latter who the former created, equipped and paid to uproot and contain, stole only N600billion (about 21.5%).
“Also the total criminal monies stolen from defenseless Easterners in three years by the drafted criminal security forces in the East was N1.5trillion as against N600billion stolen by the non-state criminal entities…”
