Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has called for a comprehensive overhaul of Nigeria’s counterterrorism framework, insisting that the federal government’s current approach is failing to match the evolving nature of security threats across the country.
The call was contained in a statement issued by Phrank Shaibu, his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication. Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), said the spread of terrorism, banditry, and kidnapping beyond northern Nigeria underscores the urgent need for reforms in the country’s security architecture.
He said terrorist groups have continued to adapt their tactics while government responses have remained largely unchanged.
“The terrorists are learning from every attack. They study their successes and failures. They refine their tactics. They identify vulnerabilities. They adapt and strike again,”
“From Chibok to Oyo, from countless villages in the North-west to communities across the Middle Belt and beyond, the pattern has become tragically familiar. An attack occurs. The nation mourns. Promises are made. Committees are announced.
According to him, the widening geographic spread of insecurity highlights the limitations of Nigeria’s current counterterrorism strategy and its inability to address the scale and complexity of the crisis.
Atiku also expressed concern over what he described as a lack of institutional learning from past attacks, arguing that lessons from previous incidents have not been effectively used to prevent future occurrences.
“It is now imperative that the federal government immediately initiates a comprehensive review of Nigeria’s national counterterrorism policy,”
He added that such a review should be grounded in Nigeria’s own experiences, drawing lessons from affected communities and prioritising adaptive, context-specific and community-driven solutions rather than relying heavily on external frameworks.
“We ought to have drawn critical lessons and early warning indicators from Chibok and other similar incidents to ensure that what recently happened in Oyo State and elsewhere never happened again,” Atiku said.
He proposed the creation of a terrorism violence peer review mechanism that would bring together affected communities, traditional rulers, security agencies, and other stakeholders to share experiences and contribute to national security planning.
Atiku said the initiative would improve intelligence gathering, strengthen early warning systems, and deepen collaboration between citizens and security agencies.
He also recommended a multi-layered counterterrorism strategy built on intelligence, technology, community participation, and the disruption of terror financing networks.
“The battle against terrorism cannot be won solely through military deployments,”
“While kinetic operations remain necessary, the government must aggressively target the financial lifelines of terrorist groups.
“We must identify and dismantle the networks that fund, equip, transport, and shelter these criminal elements.
“Every successful counterterrorism campaign around the world has relied heavily on intelligence superiority.
“Nigeria must therefore invest massively in intelligence gathering, surveillance technology, aerial monitoring systems, communication interception capabilities, and data-driven threat analysis.
“Communities must become active partners in national security. Citizens are often the first to notice suspicious movements long before security agencies arrive.
“We need structured community intelligence programmes backed by trust, incentives, and witness protection mechanisms.
“The federal government should establish specialised counterterrorism fusion centres in each geopolitical zone where intelligence from the military, police, DSS, civil defence, immigration, customs, local vigilantes, and community leaders can be pooled, analysed, and acted upon in real time.
“Equally important is the need to strengthen border security. Nigeria’s porous borders have become highways for the movement of terrorists, arms traffickers, and transnational criminal networks.
“A nation that cannot effectively monitor who enters and exits its territory will continue to face serious security vulnerabilities,” he noted.
Nigeria has in recent years faced escalating attacks from armed groups, particularly in the North-West and North-East, alongside rising cases of kidnapping in parts of the Middle Belt and southern states. The reference to incidents such as the Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction and recent security breaches in other regions reflects the long-standing and evolving nature of the country’s security challenges, which have continued to prompt calls for structural reform in intelligence coordination and counterterrorism operations.
