President’s Security Expert Seen as Too Close to the Enemy
‘Bandits Our Brothers?’ Pushback against Nuhu Ribadu at Home and in United States
By Luka Binniyat
(Kaduna) – Abuja says it’s a lie, but apparently many believe, that authorities paid cash to Boko Haram terrorists to release 260 kidnapped school kids last November.
National Security Adviser Mallam Nuhu Ribadu is fending off criticism after controversial defenses of his negotiations with terrorist gangs ravaging Nigeria.
Paying Ransom to Boko Haram
The fire storm erupted February 23, 2026, when AFP (Agence France Presse) reported that the Federal Government had paid off ISIS insurgents to release 260 pupils of St. Mary’s Catholic Girls School in Papiri, Agwara for $7 million dollars.
The local Nigerian media and international news outlets were flooded with an exclusive report by AFP, revealing that the terrorists who kidnapped over 260 pupils of a Catholic school in a Local Government Area (LGA) of Niger State, central Nigeria, on November 21, 2025, were paid either $7 million dollars or N2 billion Naira ($1.4 million) for the release of the girls through the office of the NSA, a claim that the Nigerian government denied.
Vanguard, which also published the report, points to Nuhu Ribadu as the major negotiator in the deal. Ribadu has never on his own denied the accusation, outside the denial by the Minister of Information.
The allegation stirred condemnation in the social media.
Following the AFP investigation a wave of criticism emerged in Nigerian political and media circles, with some suggesting that National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu should step aside pending investigation, as aired by Arise TV.
Opposition parties, including the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the African Democratic Congress (ADC), demanded a full explanation of the negotiations reportedly led by Ribadu and warned that paying ransom to terrorists would contradict Nigeria’s anti-terrorism laws.
Bandits Are ‘Our Brothers’
With the hue and cry over the allegation, a video emerged early in March, showing Ribadu fielding questions in Hausa language to Hausa reporters. In the now viral video, Ribadu was soft on terrorists calling them “our brothers.”
“If you live in the same home with your brother (terrorist) and something bad happens to him, will you say that he is no longer your brother? If one of your arms gets infected, would you cut it off?
“There’s nothing you can do about it. “They are our brothers,” he said.
This again has elicited protest from Nigerians, dismissing Ribadu as too sympathetic to the terrorists, especially the Fulani Ethnic Militia (often referred to by mainstream Nigerian media as “bandits” but not by TruthNigeria) being a Fulani himself.
The remark triggered backlash from commentators, activists and sections of the public who accused him of appearing sympathetic to bandits or downplaying their crimes.
A widely circulated discussion noted that the comment “ignited a firestorm across the nation,” with critics arguing that referring to terrorists and bandits as brothers was insensitive to victims of killings and kidnappings in northern Nigeria. Some analysts said the language could weaken the government’s counter-terrorism message and demoralize communities that have suffered repeated attacks.
Onyeaka Valentine and Elizabeth Musa, two social commentators rebuked Ribadu for the statement on BusinessDay X handle.
They argued that such remarks risk normalizing violent groups responsible for massacres, mass displacement and kidnappings across the country, especially in the Middle Belt and North-West of Nigeria.
A group of U.S. Nigerian diaspora raised a similar cry as they protest at the entrance to the U.S. Capitol Visitors’ Center on March 2, 2026.
“We are speaking here today for all those in Nigeria who do not have voices all those who are being slaughtered,” said Stephen Osemegwie, spokesman for the Save Nigeria Group USA.
“That means from our own Vice President to our National Security Advisor, who calls them ‘our brothers,’” Osemegwie added. Th e group followed the rally by visiting dozens of offices of U.S. Congressmen to urge them to vote for the Religious Freedom Accountability Act, H.R.7457.
‘No Nigerian Soil Under Bandit Occupation’
At the Security Stakeholders meeting in Makurdi, Benue State Capital after killings of Natives in Ukum and Logo LGAs in Benue State in April 2025 Ribadu said the federal government would defeat the attackers and insisted Nigeria has not lost territory to terrorists or bandits, as reported by BusinessDay.
That remark drew a flurry of anger from groups and persons, among them is the Middle Belt Forum – the umbrella body of the over 300 ethnic nationalities of the Nigerian Middle Belt region estimated to be about 46 million (majority Christians) in 14 states.
“What should have been a solemn, compassionate visit turned into a controversial development,” the MBF noted as reported in the DayBreak news in April 2025.
Arming MACBAN-linked Terrorists?
In December, 2025 Sahara Reporters reported that the Kwara State Government had confirmed arresting Fulani armed men linked to NSA Security Operation.
According to the report, soldiers intercepted armed men carrying AK-47 rifles while using a security patrol vehicle linked to Ifelodun LGA in Kwara State.
Kwara officials later said the men were members of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN) involved in a federal security arrangement coordinated through the Office of the National Security Adviser.
The revelation triggered public anger and fear about arming non-state actors in the region, especially being members of the dreaded MACBAN.
According to a source quoted in the report, the suspect confessed the firearm was issued to members through the Office of the National Security Adviser and the Kwara State Government.
The suspect allegedly wore a Miyetti Allah vigilante vest issued under the security arrangement.
The office of the NSA, according to Sahara reports, confirmed arming the MACBAN members, saying they were part of an auxiliary security body.
Amnesty for Bandits.
The NSA has also been linked to the controversial granting of pardons to notorious terrorist bandits operating in some states of Northern Nigeria.
Vanguard reported in December 2024 that the NSA was part of the deal that allowed “repentant” bandits to walk free and even enjoy some government incentives.
Less than a year later TruthNigeria exclusive report showed that the amnesty was fruitless as the kidnapping and murder of Christians in Kaduna state had not stopped.
Luka Binniyat writes for TruthNigeria on conflict and politics from Kaduna.
