Security Expert Says Nigeria Safer in Parts, but Far From Fully Secure

(Adamu Bakoji. Photo Credit; Daily Post)

A security expert has acknowledged that while Nigeria has made some measurable progress on the security front in recent years, the country is still far from being considered fully safe.

Abdullahi Bokaji Adamu, a retired Army Captain and Country Director of the International Human Rights Commission (IHRC), shared this assessment in an exclusive interview with an online platform while responding to President Bola Tinubu's third anniversary speech, in which the president noted that security conditions were improving in certain parts of the country and that ongoing military operations and reforms were beginning to yield results against terrorists, bandits, and kidnappers.

Adamu acknowledged that both perspectives can be valid at the same time, noting that some regions are genuinely safer today than they were three years ago.

He pointed out that several highways previously notorious for kidn@ppings now have a stronger military and police presence, that some terrorist and bandit leaders have been taken out, and that certain communities once considered inaccessible have experienced a degree of relative calm.

However, he was quick to stress that significant security challenges persist across the country.

Kidn@ppings for ransom continue in large parts of the North-West and North-Central regions, rural communities are still being terrorised by bandits and armed groups, and farmers, herders, and travellers continue to face daily threats.

He concluded that the most honest assessment is that Nigeria has recorded some security gains, but those gains are uneven and vary considerably from state to state, falling well short of what could be called a fully secure nation.

On the question of whether security agencies have the capacity to locate and dismantle bandit networks, Adamu said modern security institutions are well-equipped with intelligence gathering tools, surveillance technology, informant networks, and both air and ground military assets, and are often able to identify bandit camps, supply routes, financiers, and collaborators.

However, he explained that completely eradicating banditry is a far more complex undertaking.

Criminal groups operate across vast forests and rugged terrain, there are allegations of informants embedded within communities and institutions, weak border controls continue to allow the flow of weapons and fighters, and high levels of poverty and unemployment make recruitment into these groups relatively easy. Prosecution and conviction rates also remain inadequate.

Despite these obstacles, Adamu expressed cautious optimism, saying that with stronger political will, better coordination of intelligence, improved accountability, and sustained operations, banditry can be reduced to a level where it no longer poses a major national threat.

He emphasised that tackling insecurity goes well beyond simply locating criminals it also requires arresting and prosecuting them, cutting off their sources of funding, halting arms supplies, protecting vulnerable communities, and addressing the deeper social and economic conditions that drive recruitment into criminal networks.

In his concluding remarks, Adamu noted that while there is clear evidence of security improvement in some areas, the continued occurrence of kidn@ppings and bandit att@cks demonstrates that much more work remains to be done, and that ending banditry will ultimately require a comprehensive and sustained national strategy that goes far beyond military action alone.

This aligns with the position of former Chief of Army Staff, retired Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, who stated in a recent interview that security agencies do possess the ability to track criminals, arguing that if they can locate ordinary citizens and social media influencers, there is no reason they cannot locate bandits.

He however acknowledged that there may be operational factors behind delays in response and called for continuous improvement within the system.