KEY POINTS
- Atiku Abubakar says terrorists learn from every attack while Nigeria’s security architecture fails to evolve.
- He wants a review of the National Counterterrorism Policy rooted in local experience, not foreign templates.
- His proposals include zonal fusion centers, a peer review mechanism and a victims’ support framework.
Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, has challenged President Bola Tinubu’s administration to urgently overhaul Nigeria’s counterterrorism framework. According to him, terrorists keep refining their tactics while the government appears unable to do the same.
‘Terrorists learn from every attack’
Atiku raised the alarm in a statement on Thursday through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu. He said the spread of terrorism, banditry and kidnapping from the North to other parts of the country proves the security architecture is failing to evolve as fast as the threats it should defeat.
“The terrorists are learning from every attack. They study their successes and failures, and refine their tactics. They identify vulnerabilities, adapt and strike again. The question Nigerians must ask is simple: Why isn’t the government doing the same?” he said. Moreover, Atiku described a grim national cycle in which an attack occurs, the nation mourns, officials announce committees, and another attack follows. Citing the 2014 Chibok abduction, he noted that kidnappers still seize schoolchildren and teachers years later, because the country refuses to learn from its tragedies. Consequently, he urged the Federal Government to begin a comprehensive review of the National Counterterrorism Policy, rooted in Nigeria’s own experiences rather than foreign templates.
Fusion centers, funding probes and victim support
Among his proposals, Atiku called for a Terrorism Violence Peer Review Mechanism, a structured platform that would gather communities, local leaders and security personnel from affected areas to document lessons and feed insights into national planning. In addition, he proposed specialized counterterrorism fusion centers in the six geopolitical zones, where the military, police, DSS, civil defense, immigration, customs, vigilantes and community leaders could pool and analyze intelligence in real time.
Furthermore, he said kinetic operations alone cannot win the fight, so the government must dismantle the networks that fund, equip, transport and shelter terrorists. He also pressed for massive investment in surveillance technology, aerial monitoring, communication interception and data-driven analysis, alongside stronger border security and programs that tackle poverty, unemployment and illiteracy.
Similarly, Atiku proposed a National Victims and Survivors Support Framework offering psychosocial support, education for affected children and economic recovery for devastated communities. Finally, he criticized the administration’s opaque counterterrorism financing, arguing that Nigerians feel less secure today despite trillions of naira in security budgets, and he demanded a high-level technical committee to update the policy without delay.
