By Omeiza Ajayi & Joseph Erunke
Abuja -The Federal Government, yesterday, launched a renewed offensive against terrorism and kidnapping, declaring that no effort will be spared to rescue abducted schoolchildren and teachers in Oyo and Borno states.
Recall that in the wake of the abductions, President Bola Tinubu ordered deployment of a specialised rescue team and approved the recruitment of 1,000 forest guards to strengthen security across vulnerable communities.
Meanwhile, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress ADC, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has challenged the Tinubu administration to urgently overhaul Nigeria’s counter-terrorism framework, warning that terrorists are continuously refining their tactics while government appears incapable of doing the same.
Speaking at a special national security briefing tagged #UniteAgainstTerror in Abuja, Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said recent abductions of schoolchildren and teachers constitute a direct assault on Nigeria’s future and will be met with the full force of the state.
Delivering President Tinubu’s message to Nigerians, Idris said: “No child belongs in captivity.”
He assured distraught families that the safe return of every abducted child and teacher remains top priority of the Federal Government, stressing that all security and intelligence agencies had been mobilised to secure their freedom and bring perpetrators to justice.
“The President has directed that every lawful instrument available to the Nigerian state be deployed towards achieving this objective,” the minister said, revealing that a specialised rescue team had already been activated while additional security personnel will be deployed through the recruitment of forest guards.
The minister disclosed that intelligence gathering, aerial surveillance, community engagement and coordinated search-and-rescue operations are ongoing in both Oyo and Borno states, where terrorists abducted dozens of schoolchildren.
‘Govt’s security strategy beyond military’
He said the administration’s security strategy goes beyond military force, describing it as an intelligence-driven approach backed by a comprehensive overhaul of Nigeria’s security architecture, including plans to institutionalise state policing.
According to him, Tinubu is determined to leave behind a modern policing system capable of responding effectively to local security challenges.
Highlighting achievements recorded since the administration came into office in May 2023, Idris said hundreds of terrorists, bandits and criminal elements had been neutralised, arrested or compelled to surrender, while numerous kidnap victims had been rescued nationwide.
He cited recent military victories in the North-East, where troops of Operation Hadin Kai repelled multiple terrorist incursions along the Kirawa-Pulka and Ngoshe corridors in Borno State, killing over 50 insurgents, including key commanders.
The minister further disclosed that approximately 1,000 terrorists, among them several top leaders, were eliminated in the first quarter of 2026 alone.
In what he described as a major breakthrough, Idris revealed that a joint Nigeria-United States-supported operation conducted in May disrupted terrorist logistics networks and eliminated key Islamic State – West Africa Province, ISWAP, commanders, while 92 civilians were rescued from captivity near Buratai.
He also reported intensified military pressure on bandits and kidnapping syndicates operating across Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Kaduna, Niger, Kogi and Kwara states, leading to the destruction of criminal camps and the arrest of numerous suspects.
In the South-East and South-South, he said security agencies had sustained operations against separatist-linked violence, cult groups, oil thieves and economic saboteurs, adding that enhanced maritime security had boosted crude oil production by about 400,000 barrels per day since Tinubu assumed office.
On the judicial front, Idris pointed to significant gains in terrorism prosecutions, announcing that the Federal High Court in Abuja had just sentenced four terrorists to death for their roles in the 2022 attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.
He also revealed that Nigeria is currently undertaking one of the largest terrorism prosecution exercises in its history, with over 500 terrorism suspects facing trial.
According to him, 508 terrorism-related cases have already been prosecuted, resulting in 386 convictions, a development he described as a landmark victory in the country’s counter-terrorism campaign.
The minister said the government was equally strengthening international security partnerships, particularly with the United States, in areas such as intelligence sharing, counter-terrorism operations, military training, border security and cybersecurity.
He praised the cooperation between the Federal Government and state governments, citing close coordination with Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, and Borno State authorities in ongoing rescue operations.
Acknowledging the progress made, Idris stressed that military operations alone cannot end insecurity, insisting that sustainable peace would ultimately depend on economic growth, infrastructure development and improved opportunities for citizens.
He linked the administration’s security agenda to the broader Renewed Hope Agenda, which include road construction, rail expansion, housing projects, energy infrastructure and healthcare investments aimed at tackling the root causes of instability.
The minister challenged Nigerians and the media to play active roles in the fight against terrorism.
Warning against sensational reporting that could inadvertently advance terrorists’ objectives, he urged media organisations to verify information rigorously and report responsibly.
“Terrorists thrive on fear, division, misinformation and public despair.
“Their objective is not only to kidnap or kill, but also to weaken national unity and undermine confidence in our institutions.”
Calling for national solidarity under the #UniteAgainstTerror campaign, Idris said terrorism knows no tribe, religion or political affiliation and should be treated as a common enemy of all Nigerians.
“To the families whose children and loved ones remain in captivity, your pain is our pain. Every available resource is being deployed. Every security agency remains engaged. Every intelligence lead is being pursued,” he said.
Expressing confidence in the nation’s ability to overcome the current challenges, the minister reaffirmed government’s determination to defeat terrorism, secure schools and protect Nigerian children.
“Together, united in purpose and unwavering in resolve, we will ensure that terrorism has no future in Nigeria,” he added.
Atiku lectures Tinubu over failure to learn from terrorist attacks
Atiku in a statement, yesterday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said the disturbing spread of terrorism, banditry, and kidnapping from the North to other parts of the country is proof that the current security architecture is failing to evolve as rapidly as the threats it was designed to defeat.
“The terrorists are learning from every attack. They study their successes and failures. They refine their tactics. They identify vulnerabilities. They adapt and strike again. The question Nigerians must ask is simple: Why isn’t the government doing the same?
“From Chibok to Oyo, from countless villages in the North-West to communities across the Middle Belt and beyond, the pattern has become tragically familiar. A nation that refuses to learn from its tragedies is condemned to relive them,” he said.
Atiku argued that Nigeria’s counterterrorism efforts have for too long depended on centrally designed and largely imported frameworks that pay insufficient attention to hard-earned lessons from communities that have directly borne the scars of terrorist violence.
He called on the Federal Government to immediately initiate a comprehensive review of the National Counter-terrorism Policy, insisting that such a review must be rooted in Nigeria’s experiences rather than foreign templates.
He specifically cited the 2014 Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction as a national trauma from which critical lessons should have been drawn, yet schoolchildren and teachers, he noted, are still being abducted across the country years later.
Among his key proposals, Atiku called for the establishment of a Terrorism Violence Peer Review Mechanism, a structured platform that would bring together communities, local leaders, security personnel, and other stakeholders from previously affected areas to share experiences, document lessons, evaluate response strategies, and feed practical insights into national security planning.
He also proposed the creation of specialised Counter-terrorism Fusion Centres in each of the country’s six geopolitical zones, where intelligence from the military, police, Department of State Services, DSS, civil defence, immigration, customs, local vigilantes, and community leaders could be pooled, analysed, and acted upon in real time.
“The battle against terrorism cannot be won solely through military deployments. While kinetic operations remain necessary, the government must aggressively target the financial lifelines of terrorist groups. We must identify and dismantle the networks that fund, equip, transport, and shelter these criminal elements,” Atiku said.
He stressed the need for massive investment in intelligence gathering, surveillance technology, aerial monitoring systems, communication interception capabilities, and data-driven threat analysis, adding that communities must be made active partners in national security through structured intelligence programmes backed by trust, incentives, and witness protection mechanisms.
Atiku also called for stronger border security, arguing that Nigeria’s porous borders had become conduits for the movement of terrorists, arms traffickers, and transnational criminal networks.
According to him, terrorism thrives where poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, and state neglect have left citizens feeling abandoned, and urged the government to invest in education, youth employment, rural development, and targeted rehabilitation in vulnerable communities.
He proposed the creation of a National Victims and Survivors Support Framework to provide psychosocial support, educational opportunities for affected children, rehabilitation assistance, and economic recovery programmes to communities devastated by terrorist attacks.
Atiku also criticised the Tinubu administration for maintaining what he called an opaque approach to the financing of counterterrorism operations, arguing that despite trillions of naira budgeted for defence and security over the years, Nigerians are less secure today than they were a decade ago.
He called on the Federal Government to immediately constitute a high-level technical committee to review and update the National Counterterrorism Policy and establish the proposed Terrorism Violence Peer Review Mechanism within the shortest possible time.
