The Chief of Defence Staff, General CHRISTOPHER MUSA, has warned citizens in security-ravaged areas against engaging in any form of trading or transaction with terrorists, bandits and other non-state actors.

He said trading with the criminals was encouraging them; hence it must stop in order to defeat the menace of insecurity.

General MUSA issued the warning after visiting patients at the Defence Headquarters Medical Centre, as part of the Christmas celebration, lamenting that some unpatriotic elements have been trading with the criminal groups.

He noted that their actions were sabotaging the efforts of the military and other security agencies in fighting insecurity in the country, regretting that terrorism was not nipped in the bud when it began, which, according to him, allowed it to fester.