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Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu on Friday promised to better equip his troops to combat the insurgency in the country’s north, which has surged in recent weeks.
In an address to the military during his first visit to northern Nigeria since a brutal uptick in jihadist attacks, which killed at least 100 people in April, Tinubu said “threats of terrorism, banditry and insurgency have persisted for too long”.
“Nigerians are counting on you to end this menace and reclaim every inch of our country,” he said.
“Let the enemies of Nigeria know their time is up.”
He told soldiers in the northern state of Katsina that his government was taking “steps to equip you with advanced equipment, necessary technological advancement, superior intelligence and robust logistical support, not only to defend this nation, but to dominate and defeat every adversary”.
Nigeria’s armed forces have been fighting Islamist militants since the conflict with Boko Haram started in 2009. They’ve achieved territorial gains and succeeded in neutralising key jihadist commanders, but 16 years later, Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province still demonstrate significant resilience, analysts say.
There are also criminal gangs — locally called bandits — that terrorise communities in northwestern and central Nigeria by raiding villages, killing, kidnapping for ransom and burning homes after looting them.
Nigeria has also come under criticism for military strikes that have mistakenly killed hundreds of civilians.
In January, a military airstrike killed at least 16 people in northwestern Zamfara state after an army jet mistook local vigilantes for criminal gangs active in Zamfara state.
In December 2023, a Nigerian military airstrike mistook a Muslim religious gathering for bandits in northwestern Kaduna state.
That attack killed at least 85 people, mainly women and children.
