The Defence Headquarters on Thursday, dismissed the purported withdrawal of the Niger Republic from the Multinational Joint Task Force, a force formed to fight against insurgency activities in the Subregion.
Speaking at the bi-weekly briefing with Defence Correspondents in Abuja, the Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Markus Kangye clarified that the MNJTF remained a critical regional security collaboration and that efforts must be made to prevent any member state from leaving.
“When you hear them say, it means the information lacks credibility. I think this area has been a subject of discourse for the past few months, especially when some members of ECOWAS decided to form an alliance and attempted to exit ECOWAS.
“But, you know, the Multinational Joint Task Force was established by the Lake Chad Commission countries to address their common security concerns.
“Nigeria has been making significant efforts to ensure the sustainability of this task force. However, if for any reason a member decides to pull out, the implications will be substantial. The synergy we are supposed to enjoy may no longer be there.
“It is not in our interest for any country to leave because whatever affects them also affects us. If a country withdraws, it creates a gap in effort and reduces the strength of the contingent from that country.
“Therefore, efforts must be made to prevent such a situation from happening. Do you understand? We will continue to examine the situation, and as we always do, we will provide further briefings when necessary.”
The Multinational Joint Task Force was formed in 1994 to fight against insurgency activities in the sub-region by member countries.
Kangye also assured the public that security forces remained focused on taking out the wanted notorious terrorist leader Bello Turji.
He dismissed claims that the military had downscaled operations against herdsmen, terrorists, and cattle rustlers among others in the country.
According to him,” on the aspect of whether the troops are not, or they have downscaled their operations against Cattle rustlers and some terrorists.
“No. Like I read out, troops intercepted some trucks loaded with cows, and they recovered them, and they are still on the hunt for high-value terrorists. I have also read out the report for the quarter, some high-value terrorists that were eliminated during the quarter.
“I have mentioned their names. So as for Bello Truji, it is just a matter of time, an appointment will be fixed with him by his maker,” Kangye stated.
Addressing concerns about the welfare of injured troops, he dismissed allegations of neglecting soldiers wounded in action, saying “This is not true the welfare of the troops is not negotiable”.
According to him, “Well, to the best of my knowledge and what the armed forces are doing, our troops are adequately taken care of. And you are a journalist. If you have watched over the Salah break, you would have noticed the chief of army staff, the chief of air staff, and other senior officers from services headquarters visiting troops at the front line to celebrate Salah.
“And those that are wounded, I can still remember vividly that the commander of the infantry, General A.K. Ibrahim, was at 44 Military Hospital to have lunch with our wounded in action. And last year, while I held sway as the commander of artillery, I personally was in that same 44 Military Hospital to stay with our troops on Christmas Day. I didn’t spend Christmas with my family.
” I was with our wounded in the hospital to celebrate Christmas. The year before, I was in Mangu Plateau State to also represent chief of army staff to have lunch with our troops. So the issue of whether troops are not taken care of is not true.
“And I can also tell you that the services headquarters, the Armed Forces of Nigeria, is taking good care of the sick and wounded. Some of them that require medical evacuation abroad are taken abroad for medical treatment. Some went to Egypt, some went to Turkey, I remember, and some went to India.
“And as we speak, some are still there receiving medical attention by the services, taken care of by the services. And also, I want to tell you about, was it in December or November? I don’t know the exact dates. Houses were issued to some of our wounded in action soldiers.”
The DDMO also noted that the military has provided free housing for wounded soldiers who may not be able to return to active service.
“There is an estate built by the army, and the army issued keys to soldiers, free. So when you talk of welfare of soldiers, don’t listen to some narratives that are passed in public domain, some of these narratives are meant to discredit the effort of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, and we say no to it.
“Our troops are well taken care of. Senior officers frequently visit them at the frontline and in hospitals. Some of those needing advanced treatment have been flown to countries like Egypt, Turkey, and India,” he said.
On the killings of Edo travellers, he said, “
The political leadership of both Edo State and Kano State have taken action plan on the matter. You are aware that the political leadership of Edo State visited that of Kano State over the issue and families of the victims.
“So at the political level, everything has been resolved. I don’t think there is going to be any issue. Anybody or group causing apprehension or threats, if security agencies are aware, will be investigated.”
He also warned against the spread of false information, particularly regarding religious crises in northern Nigeria.
He urged journalists and the public to verify claims before sharing them, stressing that misleading narratives could be weaponized to create unrest.
“This is an AI-dominated information age. False narratives can be manipulated to create confusion. However, we will investigate all credible reports and take appropriate action,” he assured.
Speaking on the operations against insurgency activities by the troops in the First Quarter 2025, spanning January – March, he explained that it witnessed aggressive operational tempo by the gallant troops in conjunction with hybrid forces and other security agencies across all theaters.
According to him, “The troops demonstrated uncommon bravery, resilience, determination and strong will during various encounters throughout the quarter, including fighting and confidence building patrols, raids, ambushes, and clearance as well as search and rescue operations with remarkable outcomes.
” Air component also conducted reconnaissance, close air support, and interdiction missions with high success rates, which seriously degraded the terrorists’ strength and will to fight.
He added that during the quarter, ” many terrorist commanders such as Abba Allai (aka Amirul Khalid of Alafa), Abdullahi (aka Honour), Jagaban and Dan Danger amongst others were neutralized, Abdullahi Ali who was captured alive with severe gun wounds, while this efforts by our gallant troops created gaps in the command and leadership structures of BHTs as well as ISWAP/JAS terrorists.
“There was also infighting for supremacy within the ranks of the various terrorist factions, which sparked cracks in their leadership hierarchy, hence the observed confusion in their various camps.
” Our gallant troops exploited the situation and dealt decisively with them on various fronts, hence their resort to attack on soft targets and the use of IEDs and isolated ambushes.
“The sustained operations against the terrorists also led to the arrest of scores of them, rescue of kidnapped hostages as well as surrendering of many to our troops. Some gunrunners and terrorists’ logistics suppliers such as Alhaji Mansur Mohammed, Shehu Babangida, Sagi David, Blessing Paul, Shuaibu Maji were also arrested.”
He further explained that “during the Quarter, Operation DELTA SAFE foiled oil theft worth over Seven Billion, Four Hundred and Twenty-Eight Million, Six Hundred and Forty-Eight Thousand, Two Hundred and Forty-Six Naira (7,428,648,246.00) only. The breakdown indicates: 6,290,437 litres of stolen crude oil, 1,319,350 litres of illegally refined AGO, 6,130 litres of DPK and 4,545 litres of PMS.
“Additionally, troops discovered and destroyed 257 crude oil cooking ovens, 128 dugout pits, 192 boats, 138 storage tanks, 236 drums, and 122 illegal refining sites. Other items recovered include; barge, speedboats, pumping machines, drilling machines, and over 90 vehicles”.
He added that relatedly, troops recovered huge quantities of assorted arms including various kinds of machine guns, RPG tubes, automatic weapons as well as locally fabricated guns and IEDs. Additionally, huge cache of assorted 7.62mm and 9mm ammunition, as well as live cartridges were also recovered.
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