President Bola Tinubu said on Friday that the spate of insecurity ravaging Nigerian communities has reduced, with security agencies neutralising more than 13,000 terrorists in one year.
In his Democracy Day speech, Mr Tinubu attributed this to the military’s shift from training with international partners—the U.S., France, and other European countries—to conducting “precision targeting”.
“Terror-related deaths are down by 81 per cent since 2015,” Mr Tinubu said. “Over 13,000 terrorists have been neutralised in the past year.”
According to him, more than 124,000 terrorists and their families have surrendered their arms since 2023 through Operation Safe Corridor, which he said was “still open.”
The president expressed hope for the safe return of teachers and pupils abducted in communities in Oyo State last month.
As part of measures to address insecurity, Mr Tinubu noted his administration’s recruitment of 50,000 police officers and thousands of military officers.
“Our 2026 budget commits N5.41 trillion—our largest ever—to defence and security. Our administration is ever ready to do much more to secure our people,” he said.
While commending the “sacrifices” of the security agencies, Mr Tinubu warned that “no mercy will be shown” to sponsors of terror.
Nigeria ranked ninth on the Norwegian Refugee Council’s list of the world’s most neglected displacement crises amid persistent armed conflict and intercommunal as well as farmer–herder violence.
This is Nigeria’s sixth appearance on the list since 2016. The NRC’s report, published on June 4, said armed groups—Boko Haram, ISWAP, and Lakurawa—killed more than 4,000 people in 2025, and 7.8 million Nigerians, including children, are in need of humanitarian assistance.
The report added that while Nigerians require more international aid, “they also need a government willing to account for its resources and the assurance that the limited funding that does arrive is invested efficiently and reaches those who need it most”.
