Former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor (retd.), has categorically dismissed the notion that the Boko Haram insurgency is motivated by genuine religious principles, asserting instead that the group is engaged in a “war of evil.”
General Irabor, speaking on the nature of the decade-long conflict in the North-East, emphasized that the actions of the terrorist group—characterized by indiscriminate violence, mass abductions, and destruction of lives and property—are fundamentally antithetical to any known faith.
A War of Evil
The former CDS stressed that by couching their atrocities in religious language, the terrorists seek to exploit and distort the principles of Islam, but their core agenda remains criminal and destructive.
He stated that the campaign waged by the insurgents is purely a descent into depravity, warning against validating the group’s propaganda.
“The war they are waging is a war of evil, not a war of religion,” Irabor reportedly maintained, differentiating the group’s barbarity from spiritual conviction.
Irabor, who played a central role in Nigeria’s counter-insurgency efforts, also used the opportunity to highlight the immense sacrifices made by the Armed Forces, suggesting that without military intervention, the situation could have escalated to a devastating degree.
The comments underscore the Nigerian military’s long-standing position that Boko Haram and its splinter groups are criminal elements bent on destruction, rather than genuine religious crusaders.
