The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, said terrorism-related attacks on Nigerians regardless of faith and political affiliations has declined steeply within the two years of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Idris made this known in Wednesday in Abuja, at a news conference to respond to U.S. Government’s designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern.
According to the Minister, the Nigeria’s military and other security agencies are winning the war on terrorism.
He noted that the results in the past years and most especially in the last two years of President Tinubu’s leadership were real and remarkable.
Idris further explained that the Federal Government has made stringent efforts in curtailing access to small arms and light weapons by non-state actors.
“Security agencies recovered and destroyed over 5,000 military-grade rifles and intercepted over 20 gun-running networks in the past months.
“The Tinubu administration has made multi-million-dollar investments in modernised equipment for our security agencies and has increased the defence and security budget.
“The President has always given the military his absolute support, and I assure you that there is the political will to remove the last vestiges of this menace from our country,” he said.
Idris added: “in the past two years, significant progress has been made in the war against terrorism across the North-West, North-East, South-East, North-Central, and other parts of our country.
“Within this period, the number of terrorism-related attacks has plummeted.
“In March, a report by the Global Terrorism Index indicated that terrorist attacks were at their lowest in over a decade in Nigeria”.
The minister explained that in the past eight months, the Nigerian military neutralised over 592 terrorists in Borno alone, adding that over 13,500 terrorists and armed criminals have been neutralised.
He further stated that more than 17,000 arrests were made, over 11,200 hostages freed, and more importantly, over 124,000 insurgents and their families surrendered, handing over more than 11,000 weapons.
“In the North-West, especially Zamfara and Kaduna, 11,250 hostages have been freed, and some of the terror leaders like, Ali Kachala, Boderi, Halilu Sububu, have been neutralised.
“In August, the military intercepted and killed, in one fell swoop, over 400 armed bandits who had converged to attack a village in Zamfara.
“In the South-East, terror attacks have been reduced by almost 80 per cent through the joint effort of our security agencies.
“In the North-Central, many of these criminal elements have been neutralised, and many arrests have been made. The government is ratcheting up effort to ensure more robust security in the North-Central as new threats emerge.
“Two terrorism suspects, Mahmud Muhammad Usman and Abubakar Abba, who are wanted internationally, are currently undergoing prosecution.
“The two, who are believed to be leaders of the Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina fi-Biladis Sudan, commonly known as ANSARU, Nigeria’s Al-Qaeda affiliate, were captured in a high-risk, intelligence-led, counter-terrorism operation in July.
“Their arrest marked a turning point in our ongoing operations against terrorism. Usman, the self-styled Emir of ANSARU, allegedly coordinated various terrorist sleeper cells across Nigeria,” Idris said. (NAN)