Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa (rtd.), on Tuesday ordered troops on the frontline to adopt a shoot-on-sight approach against terrorists, stressing that soldiers should no longer wait for further authorization before engaging enemies.<\/p>\n
Musa gave the directive while addressing troops alongside the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, during a visit to Maiduguri, Borno State. The visit followed a fresh wave of deadly attacks by Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) across communities in the North-East.<\/p>\n
The minister emphasised that troops already have the mandate to neutralise threats immediately:<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have to wait for any order\u2026 wherever you are deployed, you take them down.\u201d<\/p>\n
The directive comes amid renewed insurgent offensives in Borno and surrounding areas, including attacks on military formations and civilian communities.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Recent assaults reportedly led to the death of senior officers and multiple soldiers, with civilians abducted in some incidents.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Suicide bombings and coordinated attacks have continued to highlight the persistent threat in Maiduguri and the wider North-East, despite years of military operations.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Authorities say the insurgency, ongoing for over a decade, has caused mass displacement and thousands of deaths.<\/p>\n
In response, Musa recently convened an emergency meeting with service chiefs to reassess military strategy and strengthen operational effectiveness.<\/p>\n
The Defence Minister revealed that the Federal Government, under President Bola Tinubu, has approved:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Procurement of new aircraft and advanced drones<\/p>\n
\u2022 Deployment of revised combat strategies<\/p>\n
\u2022 Increased intelligence coordination and international cooperation<\/p>\n
These measures are aimed at improving surveillance, rapid response, and precision strikes against insurgents.<\/p>\n
He added that recent operations have already yielded results, including:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Neutralisation of key terrorist commanders<\/p>\n
\u2022 Recovery of territories and hostile assets<\/p>\n
Musa reiterated that Nigeria\u2019s security forces are shifting toward a more aggressive posture, not only against fighters but also against those aiding them.<\/p>\n
He warned that:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Anyone providing logistics, funding, or intelligence to terrorists would be treated as an accomplice<\/p>\n
\u2022 The government is intensifying efforts to dismantle support networks behind insurgency<\/p>\n
While acknowledging battlefield casualties, the minister praised troops for their sacrifices and resilience:<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have more victories than defeats\u2026 Nigerians should be proud of the armed forces.\u201d<\/p>\n
To boost morale, he announced:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Salary increases for military personnel within three months<\/p>\n
\u2022 Immediate payment of three months\u2019 salary arrears<\/p>\n
\u2022 Continued investment in housing and welfare, including newly commissioned units in Maiduguri<\/p>\n
Musa urged Nigerians to:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Support the military and avoid spreading misinformation<\/p>\n
\u2022 Recognise the sacrifices of soldiers<\/p>\n
\u2022 Report suspicious activities to security agencies<\/p>\n
He stressed that defeating insurgency is a collective national responsibility, not just a military task.<\/p>\n
During the visit, the ministers also met with Borno State Deputy Governor, Dr. Usman Kadafur, reaffirming the Federal Government\u2019s commitment to restoring peace.<\/p>\n
Kadafur described the visit as a strong signal of Abuja\u2019s readiness to overhaul security strategies in the region.<\/p>\n
The latest directive reflects a hardening of Nigeria\u2019s counterterrorism approach, driven by:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Persistent attacks despite years of operations<\/p>\n
\u2022 Growing pressure on the military to deliver results<\/p>\n
\u2022 Ongoing strategic reviews at the highest levels of government<\/p>\n
Officials maintain that, despite recent losses, terrorist groups are suffering heavier casualties, and the military remains confident of eventual victory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa (rtd.), on Tuesday ordered troops on the frontline to adopt a shoot-on-sight approach against terrorists, stressing that soldiers should no longer wait for further authorization before engaging enemies. Musa gave the directive while addressing troops alongside the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, during a visit to Maiduguri, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":96417,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[526,4562,274,8181,336],"class_list":["post-98316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-borno","tag-musa","tag-salaries","tag-shoot-on-sight","tag-terrorists"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=98316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/96417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=98316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=98316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=98316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}