KEY POINTS
- Defence Minister Musa rates Tinubu’s security performance at 65 to 70 percent.
- At least 82 pupils were abducted in Borno and Oyo in mid-May.
- Amnesty says 1,100 people were abducted from January to April 2026.
Nigeria’s Defence Minister, Gen. Christopher Musa, has scored President Bola Tinubu’s government 65 to 70 percent on security performance, even as a wave of school abductions tests the claim. Musa gave the rating in an ARISE News interview on Friday to mark three years in office. Moreover, he argued that terrorism had fallen sharply, leaving mostly isolated kidnappings.
How the minister grades security performance
Musa said the country is safer than three years ago, though never entirely crime-free. Specifically, he argued that high-tempo military operations had pushed back terrorist groups across the country. “Yes. 65 to 70 percent. No nation is totally free from crime and criminality,” he said.
He also reframed kidnapping as a moral and family failure rather than only a policing problem. Indeed, Musa said breakdowns in family structure had pushed people toward shortcuts. “We have fathers kidnapping children, children kidnapping each other,” he said, calling for a fresh look at values around honest work and wealth creation.
A wave of school abductions
The minister’s comments landed amid grim numbers. Gunmen seized at least 82 pupils between May 13 and 15 in Borno and Oyo states. Specifically, armed groups attacked schools in Borno’s Askira Uba and Chibok local government areas on May 13 and 14, taking 42 pupils. Two days later in Oyo, attackers raided three schools in Oriire LGA and abducted 40 pupils.
The Oyo raid also turned deadly. Specifically, gunmen beheaded a mathematics teacher, Michael Oyedokun, killed a motorcyclist, and a security operative died from an improvised explosive device during the rescue attempt. The Defence Headquarters blamed the attack on JAS fighters dislodged elsewhere by military pressure.
Other recent attacks echo the pattern. In April, gunmen abducted 23 pupils and the wife of a school proprietor in Kogi State, and troops later rescued the remaining nine victims. Amnesty International says armed groups have abducted at least 1,100 people between January and April 2026, calling the trend a continuing failure of protection. Critics of the rating point to those numbers as evidence that the security performance picture remains grim, especially in rural areas.
Partnerships and a Turkey warning
Musa insisted that the government is gaining ground. Indeed, he pointed to a recent covert operation that killed a deputy ISIS commander after months of tracking. Additionally, he said public cooperation was rising, giving troops better intelligence.
The minister also flagged stronger international ties. According to Musa, the United States, Britain, France, Brazil and Turkey are providing platforms and expertise the Nigerian military lacks. However, he warned that allowing terrorism to take root carries generational costs, citing Turkey’s roughly four-decade struggle as a cautionary tale. Together, he said, partners and citizens give Nigeria its best chance to keep the gains.
