In a live national address on 12 June marking Nigeria’s Democracy Day, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu stated that the country’s military had ‘neutralised’ more than 13,000 ‘terrorists’ over the past year. He stressed that deaths in the fight against armed insurgent groups had fallen by 81% since he assumed power in 2023.
According to President Tinubu, through the ‘Safe Corridor’ programme — an initiative to rehabilitate repentant armed group members who voluntarily surrender their weapons — 124,000 fighters and their dependents have given up arms since 2023.
Despite the triumphant tone of the speech, Africa’s second-largest economy is mired in an escalating security crisis. Armed groups affiliated with ISIL (ISIS) and al-Qaeda, along with criminal gangs, regularly kidnap civilians for ransom.
Vulnerable targets — including schools, churches and mosques, especially in rural communities with limited security presence — frequently come under attack. While armed groups were initially confined to the north, they have begun spreading through forest corridors to strike targets in the country’s south-west. Authorities believe the groups are relocating their bases due to military pressure.
Since the start of the year, dozens of people have been abducted, including teachers and children as young as four. The latest incident in May saw 46 people taken from a school in Oyo State, south-west Nigeria. On 9 June, the Nigerian military said it had rescued 360 people kidnapped by Boko Haram — an ISIL-linked group — and held at a remote mountain base in Borno State in the north.
Earlier, after unfounded claims by U.S. President Donald Trump in late 2025 of a ‘Christian genocide’ in Nigeria, the U.S. military began supporting Nigeria with precision air strikes on armed group bases. In February, 100 U.S. troops were deployed to Nigeria.
