Defence Minister Christopher Musa says Nigeria has recorded significant improvements in its security situation, with terrorist groups no longer able to carry out the large-scale attacks that characterised previous years.
Speaking on Channels Television's Politics Today, Musa said security forces had intensified operations against Boko Haram, bandits and other criminal groups nationwide. He acknowledged that isolated attacks and kidnappings still occur but said their frequency and intensity have fallen as troops push deeper into areas once controlled by terrorist groups. He added that the military has rescued hundreds of abducted Nigerians through operations that were not always publicised, citing the sensitivity of some missions.
Musa said Nigeria had deepened security cooperation with Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Benin Republic to curb the cross-border movement of terrorists and weapons, describing the country's extensive and difficult-to-govern borders as a continuing challenge. He said the government was responding with additional security formations, surveillance drones, cameras and control centres.
The minister also addressed security preparations ahead of the 2027 general election, saying arrangements around President Bola Tinubu would be reviewed and strengthened in light of past threats. Independent verification of the overall decline in attack frequency was not immediately available, though the claim is broadly consistent with monthly Defence Headquarters figures showing hundreds of terrorists killed or captured and hundreds of kidnap victims rescued each month this year.
