Terrorist Attacks Declining, Security Forces Gaining Ground – Defence Minister

The minister of defence, Gen. Christopher Musa (retd.), said Nigeria had recorded significant improvements in its security situation, with terrorist groups no longer able to carry out the brazen attacks that characterised previous years.

Musa made the assertion yesterday during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he said security forces had intensified operations against Boko Haram, bandits and other criminal groups across the country.

According to him, although isolated attacks and kidnappings still occur, the intensity and frequency of large-scale assaults have reduced as troops push deeper into the enclaves of terrorist groups.

He said the military had also rescued hundreds of abducted Nigerians through operations that were sometimes not publicly announced, stressing that security agencies had deliberately avoided publicising some operations because of the sensitivity involved.

The minister, however, expressed concern over the continued provision of logistics to terrorists, saying Nigerians must stop supplying them with food, water, fuel and other necessities that enable them to sustain their activities.

He said, “We don’t have those brazen attacks as they used to be. I mean, before now, you used to see Boko Haram come in, go to places, attack areas, do things and go.

We are pushing more into their enclaves and making life very difficult for them.”

“Let us stop giving them any support for them to get logistics. Imagine they can’t get fuel, the motorcycles they’re using, they can’t ride them.

I can tell you the intensities have reduced, and we are pushing further to make sure that we address these issues.”

Musa also linked the recurring rise in attacks around election periods to a pattern that had persisted over several electoral cycles, although he acknowledged that it was difficult to conclusively establish the political motivation behind individual attacks.

He rejected suggestions that the military was merely displacing terrorists rather than defeating them, arguing that the decline in the scale of attacks and the increasing number of rescued victims showed that security forces were making progress.

Musa said terrorism remained difficult to eliminate because of the ideological component, which he described as an internal belief system that could survive even after the physical defeat of terrorist fighters.

On concerns about terrorism financing, the minister said the government was working with international partners to identify and disrupt financial networks supporting terrorist groups, including those using cryptocurrency and other digital channels.

He said Nigeria had intensified cooperation with neighbouring countries, including Niger, Chad, Cameroon and the Benin Republic, to strengthen border security and prevent the movement of terrorists and weapons across the region.

Musa said Nigeria’s vast, largely difficult-to-govern borders remained a major security challenge, particularly its extensive borders with Niger and Cameroon. He said the government was responding through additional security formations, surveillance technology, drones, cameras and control centres.

He also defended the government’s security preparedness ahead of the 2027 elections, saying the security arrangements around President Bola Tinubu would be reviewed and strengthened in light of previous threats.

On the reported coup plot allegations involving some military personnel, Musa said investigations were still ongoing and that those found culpable would face prosecution, while those cleared would be released.