President Bola Tinubu, on Monday, linked terrorism financing to illegal mining.
“Look at the illegal mining that plagues so many of our nations today. Those who think illegal mining has no connection with financing terrorism are sorely mistaken,” Tinubu said.
He spoke at the African High-level Meeting on Counter-Terrorism in Abuja on Monday.
Representatives of about 32 African Member States (at the Ministerial and National Security Adviser levels) participated in the two-day meeting.
Other participants include heads of African regional organisations, international partners, United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact entities, and civil society partners.
The Nigerian President said there was a need for international collaboration to dismantle the financing network of terrorists.
To effectively trace and block terror financing, Tinubu said the international community bears a “moral and legal obligation” to help because “it is external finance, not African money, that fuels these illegal operations.”
“We shall be knocking on this door of the international community to answer this call for justice, peace, and fair play,” he added.
Tinubu also called for the creation of a regional standby force and a counter-terrorism centre to degrade the activities of terrorists in Africa’s most troubled spots.
He said the counter-terrorism centre will be a hub for intelligence sharing, operational coordination and capacity building throughout Africa.
The Nigerian leader cited ransom-taking and illegal mining as “evil branches” nourished by “root causes” such as poverty, inequality and social injustice, which finance, re-equip and re-supply terrorist networks all over the continent.
“Key to our collective efforts against terrorism is the urgent need for a fully operational Regional Counter-Terrorism Centre,” Tinubu told
He argued that “a (regional) force can serve as a rapid deployment mechanism, capable of swiftly responding to major threats and bolstering the security of our region.”
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, revealed Tinubu’s position in a statement titled: ‘President Tinubu calls for regional counter-terrorism centre, says Africa must address poverty, social injustice.’
Tinubu’s comments follow the increasing sophistication of terrorist networks and their affiliates across Africa, especially the Sahel.