But Experts Applaud the Army’s New Strategy in Northwestern States
By Mike Odeh James and Segun Onibiyo
(Kaduna) Nigeria’s National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, has told an international meeting on counter-terrorism in the Sahel that the number of deaths related to terrorism in Nigeria has dropped from 2,600 per month to less than 200, according to Ribadu.
The NSA further claimed that attacks on armed gangs by air and land have reduced the supply of AK-47 assault rifles, causing the price of the weapons to soar. The rifles typically now sell for over N5 million due to the efforts of President Bola Tinubu’s administration to curb insecurity.
He was speaking at the prestigious African Counter-Terrorism Meeting on April 23, 2024, in Abuja.
“We used to record 2,600 or so a month, but now we do have less than 200 on average. It is an indication that we are getting results for the work being done,” Ribadu said at the meeting.
“We are working, and I think we have done fairly well. One of the things that we have seen as an indication that things are beginning to look different, for example, is the AK-47, which used to be sold for less than N500,000 last year but now goes for N5 million,” he went on to say.
2,583 Nigerians killed, 2,164 abducted in 3 months.
Figures from the nation’s security tracking organizations and sources from the military are at variance with the claims of the National Security Adviser.
Beacon Security and Intelligence Limited contradicts Ribadu with its statistics for January 2024 to March 2024.
The security reports released on April 22, 2024, a day before Ribadu came out with his data, stated that 793 people were killed in the North-West, 681 in the North-East, and 596 in the North-Central.
According to Beacon’s report, the South-West recorded 194 killings, the South-South 161 people, and the South-East 158. The raw numbers are three times the count Ribadu claimed, without going into detail.
States with the highest number of deaths
“The five states with the highest number of killings were Borno (517); Benue (313); Katsina (252); Zamfara (212); and Kaduna (206),” said Kabiru Adamu, the Chief Executive Officer of Beacons, to TruthNigeria. These killings were directly related to Fulani Milita attacks.
In addition, at least 2,164 persons were kidnapped within the period, according to Kabiru Adamu’s organization, Beacons.
1,297 were seized in the North-West, 421 in the North-East, 330 in the North-Central, 30 in the South-West, 66 in the South-South, and 20 in the South-East.
Kaduna State had the highest number of abductees with 546; Zamfara, 447; Borno, 340; Katsina, 252; and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), 102.
The Nigerian Army Figures in Contrast to Ribadu’s Claim
The military, which is directly confronting terrorists in the Northwest, Northcentral, Northeast, and Southwest, also reeled out its successes against terrorists for the month of February 2024.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja, Major General Buba Edward reported that the country’s armed forces killed 974 terrorists and arrested 621 in February.
While briefing journalists on the activities of the armed forces for February, on Thursday, February 29, 2024, in Abuja, Buba, who is the Director of Defense Media Operations, said several arms and ammunition were also recovered, while 466 kidnapped victims were rescued in the month under review.
And on April 3, 2024, General Buba also said Nigerian troops killed 2,351 in the first quarter of 2024—that is, from January to March—in different operations across the country.
Seductive Vision
“Despite the deadly combination of violence, natural disasters, accidents on roads, water, and at homes, activities of Boko Haram, Fulani terrorists, unknown gunmen in the Southeast, armed robbers, and cultists, and the war against criminality by the security agencies, which has created many killing fields across Nigeria since the beginning of 2024, the Nigerian government remains hopeful that it could totally eradicate all forms of violence, hence the hyperbolic assertiveness by Mr. Ribadu,” Comrade Abdul Bako Usman told TruthNigeria in an interview by text.
He added that the military under President Tinubu is actually taking the fight against terrorists and bandits in all parts of the country, which is a good thing, “but more needs to be done,” he noted.
The National Security Adviser, who is also from the North, knows that insecurity, if allowed to linger for long, would be a campaign issue against Tinubu in 2027.
Mike Odeh James is a veteran conflict reporter for TruthNigeria in Kaduna.
