•It’s clear Nigerian Army overstretched
•US team should do more than intelligence gathering
•Expanding US military role in the north ‘ll be resisted——Arewa Defence League
By Dayo Johnson, Regional Editor, South West; Olasunkanmi Akoni; Samuel Oyadongha; Peter Duru; Jimitota Onoyume; Egufe Yafugborhi; Ozioruva Aliu; Ochuko Akuopha; Davies Iheamnachor; Emem Idio; Deola Badru & Ibrahim Hassan-Wuyo
The presence of a team of the US army on Nigerian soil to assist with intelligence gathering and training of our soldiers in the fight against terrorism coupled with the Christmas day bombing of the terrorists’ enclave in Sokoto by the US has not stopped the killings and abductions in the country.
In fact, the Christmas Day strike appears to have emboldened the terrorists to increase the tempo of their atrocities while our military appears helpless. Divergent views have therefore trailed calls for deeper foreign involvement in Nigeria’s war against terrorism beyond intelligence gathering and training.
While some activists, security analysts and civil society leaders argue that stronger intervention by the United States, including direct military action, could help cripple the terrorist groups, others warn that inviting foreign troops into combat roles could erode national sovereignty, deepen instability and turn the country into a theatre of global power rivalry.
We want more US strikes on terrorists enclave —Zik Gbemre
Zik Gbemre, Coordinator, Niger Delta Peace Coalition said: “I support the US military strike on Boko Haram, bandits and killer herdsmen without informing the Nigerian military and government. The Nigerian military will always leak information to the terrorists and that is what they have been doing. The Christmas day strike by the US military was successful because the Nigerian military and government were caught unaware. The US military sharing information with the Nigerian military and politicians is a waste of time. The military leaders and politicians are benefiting from the terrorism in Nigeria and they will not want it to end but rather fuel it. The US military could train the Nigerian military but not to share information with them. We need more of such strikes from the US just the way they did on Christmas day.”
Also speaking, a security consultant, Nasiru Braimah who is Director Operations, Prime Verse Royal, security services.(PVR) said, “Foreign powers coming in to assist us are welcome. Let them come and help us to dislodge the terrorists, the insecurity today is frightening. Nigeria Army has the manpower, what is needed is tactical operation, modern technology and incentives to motivate them. You can’t fight crime with an empty stomach. The insecurity bedevilling us is as a result of corruption from our so-called leaders. Intelligence is for survival. Every law enforcement officer wants to go to his duty post and return safely. Our operational strategies should be reviewed. The terrorists are more prepared and combat ready with their strong financial empire to cause mayhem. Periodic review of our operational planning is needed. All these and more are needed from our foreign powers.”
We should hire mercenaries from South Africa ——Amaebi Clarkson, Ex Spokesman MOSIEND
According to Clarkson, “It’s very clear that the Nigerian Army is incapable of defeating the terrorists. Not because of incompetence but because the military is compromised. The military from the top hierarchy to the lower rank has sympathy for the terrorists based on religious sentiment. This accounts for the release of sensitive information and Intel on military activities to the terrorists. However, involving America in fighting terrorism is good only to the extent of intelligence gathering and training. But putting boots on ground will be counter productive. There is nowhere America has gone that has cured any insurgency, rather it escalates it to an international dimension. I would rather implore the Nigerian state to adopt the Goodluck Jonathan approach during the twilight of the administration to hire mercenaries from South Africa to fight the insurgents. We all saw the huge success recorded within that short span. The terrorists were almost neutralized in the North East and elections were conducted. If the tempo of the assault of mercenaries were sustained, we probably couldn’t have gotten to this messy point. America boots on the ground also signifies American interference with our domestic governance including selection of political leaders that would lean towards its economic interest. Moreso, we shouldn’t forget about other foreign interests in Nigeria, particularly China which has huge investments in the country including the shadow mining concerns. Let us be mindful of using Nigeria for a proxy war.
Chief Festus Ogwuche, President of the Campaign for Social Justice and Constitutional Democracy in Africa, based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, argued that it would be better if the US soldiers could decimate the terrorists without involving Nigerian troops. He said: “When Trump threatened of a possible US intervention ‘guns ablazing’ in Nigeria, we all thought that finally, a solution has come for the elimination of terrorism in the country. Following the Christmas day bombings in Sokoto we saw the monsters fleeing Sokoto in their droves and we expected further strikes of similar dimension. Incidentally, the Sokoto bombing spiralled a wave of terrorist attacks and kidnappings along the length and breadth of the country, resulting in killings and abductions. But partnership with the Nigeria government has proved overtime to be counterproductive as former President Goodluck Jonathan discovered that state actors and other prominent persons were involved in the sponsorship of the terrorism and, to some extent, suggest complicity on the part of the political leadership.”
US soldiers in Nigeria should do more—David West
For David West, Chairman, Civil Liberties Organization, CLO, Bayelsa State branch, he said: “Before now I would not have suggested the involvement of mercenaries or foreign powers to tackle banditry and insurgency. But from the look of things I have no option than to support or even go further to call for the US military to fight these insurgents in Nigeria because it is becoming frightening. On a daily basis we hear of gruesome killings of innocent citizens by these terrorists. So, I will suggest that the US army in Nigeria should do more than just intelligence gathering and training of our soldiers because it is obvious that the Nigerian government cannot defeat these terrorists. But there should be a condition that in everything they want to do with respect to assisting Nigeria in fighting the insurgents, they must do it in collaboration with the Nigerian government and the Nigerian military. So, in everything they want to do, the Nigerian military must be in the know”.
US presence must be more than just intelligence gathering – Blessing Adima
A political activist, Mr Blessing Adima said: “Now that we have shown lack of capacity to defeat the terrorists, I think we need more foreign involvement than intelligence gathering. From what we are seeing, the terrorists seem to have more sophisticated military hardware than our own soldiers. So, apart from intelligence gathering, the US team has to be directly involved to help us defeat the terrorists. I think the US presence should be more than just intelligence gathering or just coming like you are here to maintain peace.”
A Public Affairs analyst, Hon Ayo Fadaka said that “From the early sixties, Nigeria protected its independence, took a lot of pride in its nationhood, taking the bull by the horn, facing its challenges squarely and surmounting them all. At the very beginning, when the Balewa administration was toying with the idea of a British Army Base in Nigeria, University of Ibadan students rose in opposition and the idea simply evaporated. Nigeria single handedly thereafter fought the civil war without any outside help. From then on, the strength of our armed forces was pronounced, their invincibility taken for granted and trust in their capacity to tackle security challenges implicit, until now.
The challenges posed by these many ragtag bandits and terrorists that run riot across the north essentially but with an overflow to parts of the South West today seems to query the content of training of our armed forces. Obviously they are essentially trained to prosecute conventional warfare which is very different from what we currently encounter. The Americans, being the self appointed policeman of the world, have a rich and diverse training and experience in all sorts of warfare, therefore, their input in training our armed forces in this regard is essential. The Americans’ experience in Afghanistan remains key in their ability to tame the kind of security crisis that confronts Nigeria today, therefore, our armed forces have much to learn from them.
Nigeria needs to do more to arrest the terrorist campaigns across the nation. Truly, since the Christmas day strike, the terrorists seem emboldened, as they have struck so many soft targets, I will prefer to see those actions as desperate moves, symptoms of fear within their ranks, therefore the government must intensify actions, pursue the criminals relentlessly and destroy them totally without sentiments. The Buhari government should have vanquished them totally, but poor management, corruption and lethargy robbed the nation of that opportunity. President Tinubu must strike hard, pursue to logical conclusion military alliances that will give us peace and security. If the need arises, let us have both the Ramadan and Easter strikes too so that our nation may attain peace.
Major Rasaki Salawu, the pioneer Director of Operations, Federal Road Safety Commission and also a public affairs analyst, said: “The fight against terrorism is complex, dynamic, and deeply rooted in structural and operational challenges. Intelligence support and military training provided by foreign partners, including the United States, are important components of counter-terrorism cooperation. However, such support alone cannot automatically end insurgency. The Christmas Day strike in Sokoto must be evaluated within a broader operational and strategic context. Terrorist groups often respond to military pressure with retaliatory attacks as a way of projecting strength, spreading fear and sustaining their propaganda. An apparent increase in violence following such an operation does not automatically mean that the strike emboldened them.
“It may reflect desperation, regrouping or attempts to assert relevance after suffering setbacks. Counter-terrorism operations are rarely linear, and temporary escalations sometimes occur when hostile actors feel pressured. The broader question of whether foreign forces should expand their involvement beyond intelligence gathering and training requires careful and sober reflection. National sovereignty remains a critical consideration. Direct combat engagement by foreign troops on our soil raises constitutional, political, and diplomatic implications that must not be taken lightly. While some countries have benefited from deeper foreign military involvement, others have struggled with long-term dependency, legitimacy concerns, and internal resistance.
“There is also the risk that terrorist groups could exploit the presence of foreign combat forces to frame their narrative as resistance against external occupation, thereby aiding recruitment and radicalisation. The central issue is not simply the degree of foreign involvement but the overall strength, coordination, and reform of our own security architecture. We must improve intelligence fusion, enhance inter-agency cooperation, strengthen border management, increase operational mobility, and deepen community-based intelligence networks. Foreign assistance should complement and strengthen domestic capacity rather than replace it. If expanded foreign involvement is to be considered at all, it must be clearly defined, legally grounded, strategically limited, and strictly aligned with Nigeria’s national interest. Greater technological support, advanced surveillance capabilities, advisory roles, and joint planning frameworks may offer more sustainable benefits than large-scale foreign troop deployment.
Convener, Centre for Social and Economic Rights, CSER, Nelson Ejukujumi, said, “Nigeria is a sovereign country and if the United States of America is cooperating and collaborating with the Nigerian government in the fight against terrorism and banditry, it behooves on us all to know that the agreement and support have terms and conditions attached. The US cannot just run into a battle no matter how sophisticated their technology is, they will want to cross check facts with the system domiciled in that environment. In this light, if there is need for the US to be more involved beyond intelligence gathering and training, the developments on ground will determine that. But to assume that the Nigerian military is not capable of defeating the terrorists is uncharitable to the efforts and sacrifices of the military personnel who are risking their lives and limbs to keep us all safe.”If the US are providing intelligence and training, then it means that they have realized in the course of engagement that the Nigerian military is capable of winning the war, but needs to be supported in these areas of shortcomings that they must have jointly identified and agreed to work upon for improvement.”
Comrade Debo Adeniran, the Executive Chairman of the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL), a prominent Nigerian civil society organization, said, “From an activist and civil society (CSO) perspective, the issue is not as simple as inviting foreign troops in. Nigeria has previously received support from countries like the United States Army, the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), and through the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) involving neighboring countries. That support has largely focused on intelligence, logistics, training, and equipment rather than direct combat leadership.
ýý”Foreign troop deployment raises concerns about sovereignty. History across Africa shows that once foreign forces become deeply embedded, it can complicate national autonomy and accountability.
“Terrorism in Nigeria especially linked to groups like Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province is not purely a military problem. Issues of poverty, governance failure, corruption, youth unemployment, and weak local institutions fuel recruitment. Foreign troops cannot fix governance deficits. We need to ask ourselves, who holds foreign soldiers accountable if abuses occur? Even our own military operations have faced human rights allegations. ýHowever, if communities are being overrun, the state is failing to protect citizens, and lives are being lost daily, then temporary, well-defined, and strictly regulated foreign operational support (not open-ended occupation) may be considered under clear legal frameworks and parliamentary oversight.”
There must be professionalism handling Nigeria’s security challenges – Ikponmwen
Former Provost Marshal of the Nigerian Army, Brigadier-General Idada Ikponmwen (rtd) said “I was one of the first to say that if our government cannot provide the security needed by the people, security being the primary purpose of government, then we have every right to seek foreign aid. I also said that there is no time to be talking about sovereignty as sovereignty can only be obtained when the people are alive. So, if people’s lives are endangered, they must first seek survival and if the authorities in the country cannot provide security and welfare for the people, then America and Trump are welcome.
The government should rise up to its responsibility of ensuring the safety of the people. The Nigerian army has done it before, it has achieved success in so many other places before now. Why can’t we now live up to the expectation of providing this security for ourselves.
“I have long said that the security and the defence system should be overhauled, we must know who is responsible for what. There is a difference between insurgency and riots in society and the defence of our country against foreign invasion. The military must be made to do its own job of protecting Nigeria against foreign aggression. The police and other civil organisations and intelligence bodies must be allowed to do their work. If you give the police work to the army, you are rendering the army and the police ineffective. The army is not trained for jobs meant for the police.
You are not helping the country by giving the job of the police to the army. By doing that, you are demystifying the army and making them acquire the same problem that you think the police have. Indeed, all these systems can do better if they are allowed to do their job and if there are proper demarcations between one organ and the other organ’s responsibilities.
They must remove rivalry and overlap in their jobs”.
We are used to fire bridge approach- Ambakederimo
Joseph Ambakederimo, Convener, South South Reawakening Group said: “From what we are seeing across the country there is an upsurge in the attacks carried out by terrorists. But the critical question to ask is that, will these American soldiers be domiciled only in the North East or the North West region of the country and if this is the case what happens to the North Central and other parts of the country that are being ravaged by terrorist attacks? Or will there be more American soldiers and boots on the ground to begin to chase the terrorists from place to place? We just need to be extremely careful in the rush to seek foreign help. What we have done is our normal “fire brigade approach” of responding in times of national crisis”.
US military should not go beyond intelligence gathering – Security personnel
A top security personnel, who chose to remain anonymous, said it would be improper for the Nigerian government to allow the US military to go beyond intelligence gathering in the nation’s security operations. The security czar said allowing the US military to be directly involved in combat and military operations would mean that the country has given up on her capacity to dislodge the miscreants. He said the nation’s security network and its military can conveniently overwhelm Boko Haram and related security situations in the north.
According to him, “We should just allow the US military support in the areas of intelligence gathering and provision of military hardware. Going beyond this will expose our country to internal security problems. The situation is not so bad that it can’t be handled by our local hands. It’s just that we allowed this issue to fester for too long, probably due to political reasons. There is still hope that it is not yet beyond the capacity of our men. The US military should give support in the area of intelligence, and provision of military hardware.”
We need strategic foreign backing in terror war – Ex-AIG Iwar
A security expert and retired Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG), Austin Iwar, backed increased foreign collaboration in Nigeria’s fight against terrorism, insisting that seeking international support does not amount to weakness or surrender of sovereignty. He said certain security challenges are too overwhelming for any country to confront alone.
According to him, “There are certain battles that countries cannot fight alone. We need collaboration from other powers, especially when it gets to a situation where certain aspects of the fight are very overwhelming. It does not mean that the country seeking help is weak.
“The US has advanced intelligence and surveillance equipment and tools. They have sophisticated satellite imagery and signals intelligence capabilities which helped us to track insurgents’ movements in the Lake Chad Basin. That kind of support is invaluable. We are already getting support in capacity training. We have Special Forces training in counterterrorism and even in hostage rescue.
“They are not here to take over our battle. They are strengthening what we already have and introducing us to capabilities we currently lack.
“Sustaining security requires local ownership. Even though the Americans are here, they are not leading; they are supporting. They come under the command of the army. The army will tell them what we want, and I am sure all of those discussions have taken place. If we allow them to get involved in direct combat, it might weaken our institutions because they will relax and leave others to fight our battle for us. Our soldiers are experienced. They know the terrain very well. They only need to be propped up and supported with more sophisticated equipment,” he said.
Expansion of US military role in Northern Nigeria will be resisted——Arewa Defence League
The Arewa Defence League (ADL) declared its firm opposition to any expansion of the United States military presence in Nigeria, particularly in the northern region, citing historical grievances and concerns over national sovereignty. Murtala Abubakar, National President of the ADL, said the group acknowledged the recent Christmas Day strike in Sokoto and the reported presence of US military personnel in intelligence-gathering roles. However, he stressed that any move towards deeper American involvement would be strongly resisted. Our stance is rooted in the painful lessons of our history. Previous cooperation with the US military during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo compromised Nigeria’s defence structure. Granting access to critical defence doctrines at the time marked the beginning of a decline in the operational effectiveness of the Nigerian Armed Forces. The challenges currently facing the military in combating insurgency can be traced to that period of engagement with the United States. Exposing strategic protocols to a foreign power undermined Nigeria’s national security architecture.
Drawing parallels with US interventions in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, the ADL warned that deeper American military involvement in Nigeria could lead to long-term instability. The group characterised US foreign policy interventions as historically disruptive and urged caution against what it termed “foreign boots on our soil. While affirming the need for international cooperation in tackling insecurity, the ADL maintained that Nigeria must prioritise homegrown strategies and partnerships with regional allies sharing common borders and security challenges”.
Outsourcing national security responsibilities could undermine Nigeria’s sovereignty. NYCN
Similarly, the Northern Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) cautioned against a full-scale “boots-on-the-ground” approach by external forces, warning that outsourcing national security responsibilities could undermine Nigeria’s sovereignty. While welcoming enhanced intelligence sharing and technological collaboration, it stressed that long-term solutions must be driven by strong domestic leadership.
The group acknowledged the value of foreign technical and intelligence support but insisted that Nigeria’s security crisis stems primarily from what it described as a “catastrophic failure of internal political will.” According to the NYCN, “the challenge is not a lack of external firepower but weak leadership and poor strategic coordination”. The council also raised concerns about what it termed a possible “war economy,” alleging that the continuous increase in security budgets without visible improvement on the ground fuels public suspicion that insecurity may be benefiting certain vested interests. It called for transparency and accountability in the management of security funds.
