Why I Supported Trump’s Plan of Military Action in Nigeria, Senator Marafa speaks
- Former Senator Kabiru Marafa defended his support for Donald Trump’s threat of military intervention to help Nigeria confront rising insecurity
- Marafa urged President Tinubu to act with stronger political will, stressing that many northern communities had already surrendered to bandits due to failed protection
- He warned that banditry had evolved into a lucrative value chain backed by mining interests and alleged saboteurs inside Nigeria’s security architecture
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Legit.ng journalist Muslim Muhammad Yusuf has over 8 years of experience in investigative reporting, human rights, politics, governance and accountability in Nigeria.
Abuja, Nigeria - Former Zamfara Central Senator, Kabiru Marafa, has defended his support for former US President Donald Trump’s threat of military action over the insecurity crisis in Nigeria.
Marafa, while speaking on Channels Television's Politics Today on Wednesday, said many Nigerians misunderstood Trump’s intervention because they focused on issues of sovereignty instead of the scale of killings across northern communities.
Source: Facebook
He argued that external pressure from the U.S. was one of the reasons Nigerian authorities eventually reviewed the security architecture.
Marafa said Nigeria’s elite often elevate patriotic sentiments above the lives lost to banditry and terrorism, insisting that Trump’s comments were necessary to force the government to confront the crisis.
“I strongly support the President of America, Donald Trump, for issuing that threat, ” the former lawmaker said
“I differ with a lot of Nigerians because most Nigerians look at it from the perspective of sovereignty, patriotism, which I subscribe to. But of what importance is sovereignty to a dead man?”
He noted that while Trump highlighted attacks on Christians, Muslims in Zamfara were also being killed on a large scale.
Communities surrendering to bandits - Senator Marafa
The former senator warned that entire communities in the North-West were now negotiating directly with bandit groups due to loss of confidence in state security systems, a situation he described as a sign of total state failure.
He said:
"Bandits often arrived at negotiation venues dressed in military or police camouflage while security agents watched helplessly."
Marafa linked part of the crisis to illegal mining activities in Zamfara and other states, arguing that criminal networks benefit from insecurity and deliberately keep communities under terror to maintain control of mining zones.
Source: Twitter
Although he did not name individuals, he insisted that authorities already knew the actors behind mining-related insecurity.
Marafa challenges Tinubu to stop acting like ‘APC President’
The former lawmaker advised President Bola Tinubu to govern as President of Nigeria, not as leader of the APC, insisting that victims of violence were not asking about party affiliations.
He said Tinubu must be willing to confront individuals involved in insecurity, regardless of where they come from.
His words:
“Now the president, like I said, should stop being the president of APC and become the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
"President Tinubu has the constitutional power and the public support to act boldly."
Marafa warned that no defence minister would succeed unless the presidency removed saboteurs allegedly operating within the Ministry of Defence and other security agencies.
He said the intelligence community had enough information to identify collaborators, but political will had been lacking across administrations.
'How Trump’s outburst increased attacks in Nigeria'
Meanwhile, Daniel Bwala, special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on policy communication, has claimed that insecurity in Nigeria escalated following recent remarks made by United States (US) President Donald Trump.
Speaking on Wednesday, December 3, during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, monitored by Legit.ng, Bwala acknowledged that the country is going through a difficult period.
'FG to name terrorism financiers' - Bwala
Legit.ng earlier reported that Bwala disclosed that the federal government will soon reveal the identities of individuals and networks responsible for financing terrorism in the country.
The former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member stated that the Tinubu administration is already taking “far-reaching decisions” on national security, which will soon become clear to Nigerians.
He said the current administration is intensifying its efforts to counter the terrorists' threat and will soon expose those financing and enabling terrorist activities across the country.
Source: Legit.ng
