Bwala outlines federal government's plans to combat terrorism and abduction

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The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Daniel Bwala, has listed measures the Federal Government is taking to end insurgency, banditry, and kidnapping across the country.

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He spoke during a panel discussion on The Link Up Podcast, hosted by echoRoom and published on Friday.

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Bwala said the government was recruiting and retraining more security personnel, noting that the current strength of the security forces was not sufficient for Nigeria’s population and land mass.

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“We are investing in training and retraining. First of all, we’re investing in recruiting more security personnel because the one we have, they are not sufficient to match with the population and the land mass,” he said.

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He added that some of the new recruits would serve as forest guards to check terrorists exploiting forests to hide and mine resources illegally.

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Bwala said, “We needed to send people to the forest, so we have to recruit more and send them to forest guards as forest guards. Those ones, the terrorists, are also stealing our mines and resources.”

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He said the police, the military and the State Security Service were also being expanded, alongside marine security operations.

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According to him, “We also have these marine guys there. We’re increasing police, soldiers and DSS. So in terms of personnel, we’re increasing them.”

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The presidential aide said the government was working with paramilitary agencies and had licensed some private security firms to provide additional cover.

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He added that President Bola Tinubu had withdrawn police officers attached to VIPs, warning that defaulting officers would soon be identified.

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On technology, Bwala said drones and interception systems were being deployed to aid round-the-clock surveillance.

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He said, “We’re investing in technological devices that, in modern days, help us when we are sleeping, which is the drone system, interception and all that.”

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Bwala also disclosed that Nigeria was partnering with its Sahel neighbours on counterterrorism and had, for the first time in the country’s history, extended a joint military partnership with the United States.

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He said special forces recently concluded a round of operations, while other units remained in the country to provide training, details of which he said were classified.

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“We will not tell the world the nature of the training. We don’t want our enemies to know. There are certain things that are classified because we don’t say it, people tend to think government is not working,” he said.

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He said troops relied on intelligence and reconnaissance to track targets, sometimes waiting until they left populated areas before striking, in order to avoid collateral damage on civilians.

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Bwala described kidnappings and abductions as a “crisis economy,” saying the crimes were sometimes carried out by terrorists and, at other times, by Nigerians, including neighbours of the victims.

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He said, “The kidnappings and the abductions you see, which is a crisis economy, is done sometimes by the terrorist and at other times by Nigerians. Sometimes when it is done, they arrest people and discover that they are neighbours.”

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The presidential aide said the government was expanding local police and DSS presence within cities and developing community-based policing, citing an initiative by the Lagos State Governor involving neighbourhood marshals.

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He said, “So we are expanding the local police and DSS within the city, like the Governor of Lagos told me they are doing, developing community-based policing, neighbourhood marshals and others, where they say if you see something, you must talk.”

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Bwala noted that insecurity historically spikes on the eve of elections in Nigeria, as more people are recruited into crime, but tends to decline afterwards, and urged that the government’s security performance be judged in that context.

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He said, “Please do your judgment by after election, because they also consider this as part of the election, because more people will need market, recruit them or arm them.”

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He disclosed that security agencies were cracking down on law enforcement officials found to be compromised, citing the recent arrest of a senior police officer by mine marshals.

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