Why Nigeria Is Struggling To Defeat Terrorism – Defence Minister Reveals

The Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (retd.), has said the fight against terrorism, banditry and insurgency in Nigeria remains difficult because criminal groups enjoy the support of sponsors and some members of the public.

Musa was expected to speak on Friday at The Platform Nigeria 2026 edition, an annual national discourse organised to mark Democracy Day.

The event, which was monitored on Channels Television, was hosted by the Senior Pastor and Founder, The Covenant Nation, Pastor Poju Oyemade.

Speaking on the theme, “Governance, Democracy and National Security,” the minister said terrorists and bandits rely on local collaborators for food, water, intelligence, logistics and funding.

He said security agencies could only achieve a permanent solution if citizens refuse and expose those who aid criminal elements.

“The people are all. If the people are ready and willing to change, change will happen. “If the people are not willing, nothing will happen,” Musa said.

“I can tell you that with what is going on with the challenges we have in the country — banditry, insurgency and terrorism — why does it seem to be so difficult to deal with them? And maybe we have people who are also encouraging and supporting these things because the terrorists and bandits live among the people.

“There are lots of stories about how people have supported them with food, water and information, and these are the things that keep them going. We call it the oxygen. Who’s paying for them? Who are they getting their information from? And who are those who provide the logistics that keep them going? It’s still the people.”

“The nature of modern insecurity has made security operations more complex than conventional warfare,” the minister stated.

“Today, security threats are often created by people who live among us and are part of our communities, unlike state-to-state conflicts where enemies were easy to identify,” he explained.

“Traditionally, conventional warfare was state-to-state, country-to-country. So you know who your enemy is. “The most dangerous thing in a battle or a campaign is when the enemy is inside,” he said.

“The person you are protecting may be the number one enemy trying to take you out the moment he gets the chance.”

Musa, said the success of security agencies in their operations would be limited without the cooperation of the citizens despite the efforts they put in.

“It is very important to us to always remember that the armed forces and the security agencies, whatever they do, if the people are not ready to support them, it makes the task extremely difficult,” he added.

The defence minister urged Nigerians to remain united, noting that terrorists and criminal groups often exploit divisions in society.

“We have to keep working together because it is those spaces that are between us that these people see and try to widen to divide us and we must not let that happen,” Musa said.

Speaking also at the event, former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, stressed the need for an independent legislature to sustain democracy and ensure accountability in governance.

Saraki said that a parliament that simply rubber-stamps executive proposals without due diligence has failed in its constitutional duty.

“A legislature that cannot say no is no legislature at all. A legislature that only receives executive proposals, approves them without scrutiny and goes home has not done its constitutional duty. It has only played a ceremonial role,” he said.

He said the independence of the National Assembly should not be seen as rebellion against the executive but as a condition for legitimate governance.

“National Assembly’s independence is not rebellion against the government of the day. “The National Assembly is the very thing that makes the government legitimate if it is independent because a mandate that is never tested is a mandate that nobody can trust,” said Saraki.