Former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor (rtd.), has revealed that some Nigerian politicians have financed terrorism, though the identities of those involved remain undisclosed because trials conducted while he was in office were “away from public consumption.”

Irabor made the comments during a Channels Television interview addressing rising attacks on Christian communities, the politicisation of insecurity, and recent claims by former U.S. President Donald Trump alleging “Christian genocide” in Nigeria.

He described the country’s security crisis as a “multi-layered monster” involving ideological terrorists, religious extremists, politically motivated actors, and criminal gangs seeking territorial control.

“Just as you have terrorists with an ideology, you also have those bent on targeting Christians. There are also those targeting communities to displace them for leverage. And then you have economic criminals. They all operate for different reasons. Lumping it together under one theory is wrong,” Irabor said.

Addressing the political dimension of terrorism, he added, “Some politicians have taken advantage of poor governance and insecurity to gain leverage, to create impressions they can do better, or even instigate crises. But that doesn’t mean everything is political, or that all politicians are involved.”

On why terror financiers’ identities are not publicly disclosed, Irabor stated: “There were some trials that were made, especially for the financiers. It’s not for public consumption,” declining to confirm whether any convictions were secured.

He urged Nigerians to trust security officials, emphasizing that “not everybody in government is a criminal or a liar. There are many Nigerians who truly want to deliver on the mandate for which they were appointed or elected.”

Responding to Trump’s remarks, Irabor warned that external actors often misinterpret Nigeria’s complex conflict: “Saying everything is genocide is oversimplification.”

Irabor’s comments revive long-standing questions about the government’s reluctance to publicly prosecute alleged terror financiers, despite arrests in 2021 and repeated promises from both Buhari and Tinubu administrations. To date, no high-profile politician has been publicly charged for funding armed groups like Boko Haram or bandits.