The Federal Government on Thursday launched a renewed offensive against terrorism and kidnapping, declaring that no effort would be spared to secure the release of abducted schoolchildren and teachers in Oyo and Borno states.
Recall that following the abductions, President Bola Tinubu ordered the deployment of a specialised rescue team and approved the recruitment of 1,000 forest guards to strengthen security in vulnerable communities.
Meanwhile, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, challenged the Tinubu administration to urgently overhaul Nigeria’s counter-terrorism framework, warning that terrorist groups continue to refine their tactics while the government appears unable to keep pace.
Speaking at a special national security briefing tagged #UniteAgainstTerror in Abuja, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said the recent abductions of schoolchildren and teachers constitute a direct assault on Nigeria’s future and would be met with the full force of the state.
Delivering President Tinubu’s message to Nigerians, Idris declared: “No child belongs in captivity.”
He assured affected families that the safe return of every abducted child and teacher remains a top priority for the Federal Government, stressing that all security and intelligence agencies have been mobilised to secure their freedom and bring the 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, adding that a specialised rescue team had already been activated, while additional security personnel would be deployed through the recruitment of forest guards.
Idris 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.
Security strategy goes beyond military action
The minister said the administration’s security strategy extends beyond military force, describing it as an intelligence-driven approach supported by a comprehensive overhaul of Nigeria’s security architecture, including plans to institutionalise state policing.
According to him, President Tinubu is determined to establish a modern policing system capable of responding effectively to local security challenges.
Highlighting achievements recorded since the administration assumed office in May 2023, Idris said hundreds of terrorists, bandits, and other criminal elements had been neutralised, arrested, or compelled to surrender, while numerous kidnap victims had been rescued across the country.
He cited recent military successes 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 more than 50 insurgents, including key commanders.
The minister further disclosed that about 1,000 terrorists, including 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 commanders of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), 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. He added that enhanced maritime security had increased crude oil production by about 400,000 barrels per day since President Tinubu assumed office.
On the judicial front, Idris highlighted significant gains in terrorism prosecutions, announcing that the Federal High Court in Abuja had 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 more than 500 terrorism suspects facing trial.
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