Communities Aiding Survival Of Terrorists – Defence Minister

Nigeria’s Defence Minister, Christopher Musa, has blamed local collaborators and financiers for the resilience of terrorist, bandit and insurgent groups.

He warned that security forces cannot defeat the country’s growing threats without the active support of citizens.

Musa spoke at the 2026 edition of The Platform Nigeria, a national discourse held as part of Democracy Day celebrations.

The minister said criminal groups continue to thrive because they receive food, intelligence, logistics and other forms of support from people living within affected communities.

According to him, the fight against insecurity has become increasingly complex because the enemy often operates from within the same society security agencies are trying to protect.

“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.

“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 stated.

Musa said security agencies have repeatedly uncovered instances where criminal elements were aided with food supplies, information and other resources needed to sustain their operations.

“There are several stories of how people have aided them by giving them food, water and information, and these are the things that keep them going. We call this the 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”, he argued.

The minister said modern security threats differ from conventional warfare where enemies are clearly identified.

He noted that the most dangerous adversaries are often individuals embedded within communities.

“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,” he said.

According to him, “That individual whom you are protecting may be the number one enemy trying to take you out immediately when he gets the chance.”

Musa stressed that military operations alone would not end insecurity unless citizens actively cooperate with security agencies and expose those aiding criminal networks.

“It is important for us to always remember that the armed forces and the security agencies, no matter what they do, if the people are not ready to support them, it makes the task extremely difficult,” he added.

He also urged Nigerians to close ranks and resist attempts by criminal groups to exploit ethnic, religious and political divisions for their own advantage.

“We must continue to work in unity because it is these gaps that exist between us that these individuals see and try to widen in order to separate and divide us, and we must not let that happen,” Musa said.

In a separate intervention at the forum, former Senate President Bukola Saraki underscored the role of an independent legislature in protecting democracy and promoting accountability in government.

Saraki warned that any parliament that merely endorses executive proposals without critical examination abandons its constitutional duty to the Nigerian people.

“A legislature that cannot say no is not a legislature at all. A legislature that simply receives executive proposals, approves them without scrutiny and goes home has not fulfilled its constitutional mandate. It has merely performed a ceremonial function,” he said.

The former Kwara State governor argued that legislative independence should not be interpreted as hostility toward the executive arm of government.

Rather, he said, robust oversight and scrutiny are essential ingredients of democratic legitimacy and public trust.

“The independence of the National Assembly is not rebellion against the government of the day,” Saraki said.

“If the National Assembly is independent, it is the very thing that makes the government legitimate because a mandate that is never tested is a mandate that no one can trust”, he submitted. (Daily trust)