Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (retd.), says terrorism, banditry and insurgency remain hard to defeat because criminal groups continue to get support from sponsors and people within communities.
Musa spoke on Friday at the 2026 edition of The Platform Nigeria, the annual Democracy Day discourse hosted by Pastor Poju Oyemade and monitored on Channels TV.
Speaking on the theme, “Governance, Democracy and National Security,” he said security forces cannot win the fight alone while criminals still receive food, money, logistics and information.
According to him, real progress will only happen when citizens stop protecting people who aid violent groups and begin exposing them.
He said, “Everything revolves around the people. If the people are ready and willing to make changes, changes will occur. If the people are not willing, nothing will happen.”
Musa added, “I can tell you that with what is going on with the challenges we have in the country; banditry, insurgency and terrorism, why does it seem so difficult to deal with them? Perhaps, we have people who are also encouraging and supporting these things because the terrorists and bandits survive among the people.”
He said there are many cases where locals supplied food, water and information to criminal groups and described such support as their “oxygen.”
“Who are those funding them? Who are those giving them information? Who are those providing the logistics that keep them going? It is still the people,” the minister said.
Musa said today’s threats are different from conventional warfare because the enemy is often inside the community, adding, “Conventional warfare in the past used to be state-to-state, country-to-country, so you know who your enemy is. The most dangerous aspect of battles or campaigns is when the enemy is within. That individual whom you are protecting may be the number one enemy trying to take you out immediately he gets the chance.”
