*Says Nation Has Stepped Up Its Game, Recording Improving Results
*Military Neutralises 217 Terrorists, Rescue 349 Kidnapped Nigerians In October
*GOC Orders Troops To Clear Old Oyo Park Of Bandits, Terrorists

MINISTER of Defence, Maj.-Gen. Christopher Musa (rtd) has stated that solving Nigeria’s insecurity “requires informed policies, credible institutions, technological innovation and a comprehensive understanding of the human dimensions of conflict.”
Musa, however, said the country had stepped up its game and was gradually improving the security situation.
This came as the military has disclosed that troops neutralised 217 terrorists and other criminals, rescued 349 kidnapped persons and arrested 333 suspects across the country in October 2026.

Meanwhile, the General Officer Commanding (GOC), 2 Division, Nigerian Army, Maj.-Gen. Auwalu Mahmuda, has charged troops deployed around the Old Oyo National Park to sustain their offensive operations and flush out bandits, terrorists and other criminal elements from the area.

Musa spoke on Friday at the TETFUND Centre for Excellence in Security Management while commissioning the CG Musa Security Management Hub donated to the Centre at the University of Ibadan.
The minister stated that “the academia occupies a strategic place in our national security management architecture.”
He added that “the battlefield may reveal the immediate manifestations of insecurity but the university provides the intellectual environment to interrogate its causes, evaluate responses and develop sustainable solutions.”
He hinted that the insecurity is getting prolonged because it is becoming difficult to get the needed security weapons and ammunition, adding that Nigeria needs to begin to produce what it requires to end it.

Musa said: “Our intention is to expose our local producers to foreign and international manufacturers so that we can continue to produce what we need or what we rely on. Why insecurity continues to be prolonged is that we do not produce all we need.
“Most times when we go to buy, even with cash at hand, you can’t get them off-the-shelf. And now with the wars going on in Ukraine, Russia and the Strait of Hormuz, it became extremely difficult buying as little as ammunition to use not to talk of Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs). Since our local manufacturers are doing their best, we need to escalate to an international level.”

He further noted that the security challenges confronting the nation have become increasingly complex, interconnected and multidimensional.
“The threats we face continue to test our national resilience. Equally concerning are the underlying conditions that sustain insecurity, including extremism, weak governance systems, political manifestations and social exclusion among others.  These realities remind us that security cannot be achieved through military operations alone. It requires informed policies, credible institutions, technological innovation and a comprehensive understanding of the human dimensions of conflict,” he said.

According to him, “we will continue to encourage collaboration between defence institutions and centres of learning to ensure that our security policies and operational approaches benefit from research, innovation and evidence-based analysis. It is also important that everybody plays a part because it is a whole-of-nation approach. If you see something, say something.”

The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Kayode Adebowale, thanked the donor for providing a facility that current and future generations will learn from.
“We hope and believe that this hub serves as the nexus for multidisciplinary research, and serves as a convening ground for policy makers and academics. The facility must not become a museum of security artifacts but (must) be used to generate data that will guide the Ministry of Defence and our security agents,” Adebowale said.

The lead Researcher and Technical Officer at the Centre, Prof. Isaac Olawale Albert, while thanking the minister for fulfilling his promise to the Centre, tasked him to ensure that more funds are made available to it.
Albert said it was important for the security agencies to patronise the centre and engage with its resource persons towards formulating and implementing the right security policies.

Speaking on Friday during the monthly press briefing on ongoing military operations for October 2026 in Abuja, the Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Michael Onoja, disclosed that 70 insurgents surrendered to troops during the period, while 105 firearms and 3,174 rounds of ammunition were recovered from criminal elements across various theatres of operation.
According to him, troops sustained offensive operations against terrorists, bandits, kidnappers, oil thieves and other criminal groups across the six geopolitical zones between September 30 and October 30.
Onoja said the operations also led to the dismantling of 49 illegal refining sites and the recovery of 756,837 litres of petroleum products in the Niger Delta.

He said one of the major operations during the month was the killing of a senior Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) commander, Abdussamad Ohida, in Owo Forest, Ondo State, on October 2.
According to him, Ohida was the deputy to the ISWAP leader in Central Nigeria and assumed leadership of the group following the arrest of its former leader by the Department of State Services (DSS) in 2023.
He added that the slain commander was involved in planning large-scale attacks on citizens in several states ahead of the forthcoming festive season.

The defence spokesman also disclosed that troops repelled an ISWAP attack on Kukawa town in Borno State between October 6 and 7, killing 25 terrorists and recovering six AK-47 rifles, 10 magazines, 797 rounds of PKT ammunition and other explosives.
He said troops also rescued 20 abducted prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members in Imo State following an attack on two commercial buses along the Owerri-Onitsha Expressway on October 1.
The victims were rescued at Ndegwu Community in Owerri West Local Council on October 7, while five members of the kidnapping syndicate were subsequently arrested.

In the North-West, Onoja said troops of Operation Fansan Yamma rescued 167 kidnapped persons, neutralised 18 terrorists and arrested 10 suspects during the month.
He said troops also repelled an attack by a large group of Lakurawa terrorists on more than 100 motorcycles in Maiyama Local Council of Kebbi State on October 7.
The attackers, according to him, were armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, but troops neutralised 10 of them, while others fled.

In the North-Central, troops of Operations Savannah Shield, Enduring Peace and Whirl Stroke rescued a combined 110 kidnapped persons, while arresting several suspects linked to kidnapping, arms trafficking and other criminal activities.
Onoja said troops also arrested a wanted terrorist kingpin and his accomplice in Mokwa, Niger State, while a wanted gunrunner and militia leader was apprehended in Jape Community, Vandeikya Local Council of Benue State.
In the South-South, he said troops of Operation Delta Safe arrested 45 criminals, dismantled 49 illegal refining sites and recovered 756,837 litres of petroleum products.

He also said troops rescued an abducted person and neutralised suspected kidnappers during operations in Edo State.
In the South-East, Onoja said troops of Operation Udo Ka neutralised two terrorists, arrested 22 criminals and rescued 33 civilians during operations in Abia, Anambra and Imo states.

He added that troops also neutralised 10 terrorists during a follow-up operation at a kidnapping syndicate’s camp in Abator, Ogbaru Local Council of Anambra State, recovering five rifles, three Dane guns and materials for fabricating improvised explosive devices.
The defence spokesman, however, disclosed that the military recorded 98 attacks across its various theatres of operation during the month.
He said Operation Hadin Kai recorded 27 attacks, Operation Fansan Yamma 24, Operation Enduring Peace 29, Operation Whirl Stroke 12, while Operations Udo Ka, Delta Safe and Savannah Shield recorded four, one and one attacks respectively.
He said troops responded to the incidents and repelled the attacks through coordinated engagements and superior firepower.
Onoja, however, expressed condolences to the government and people of Taraba State over the deaths of civilians in a terrorist attack in Binari, Karim Lamido Local Council, on October 23.
He said the Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede, had assured Nigerians that the military would intensify efforts to apprehend those responsible and bring them to justice.

He urged residents to provide timely and credible information to security agencies, warning that terrorists’ collaborators, informants, logistics suppliers, recruiters and gunrunners would be arrested and prosecuted.
He also urged troops to remain disciplined, uphold human rights and guard against complacency, particularly as the festive season approaches.
A statement on Friday by the Acting Deputy Director, 2 Division Army Public Relations, Lt.-Col. Danjuma Jonah Danjuma, said the GOC gave the directive to troops during an operational visit to the Forward Operating Base (FOB), Igbeti, in Olorunsogo Local Council of Oyo State on October 28.

The statement quoted the GOC as saying that he had been monitoring operational developments in the national park and its environs, particularly the efforts and achievements of the troops.
The statement said he urged the soldiers to maintain effective control of the area and deny criminal elements freedom of action.
“Ensure you clear the OONP and its environs of bandits, terrorists and other criminal elements,” Mahmuda charged.