JUST IN: Tinubu approves five-year security strategy to tackle insurgency, banditry

President Bola Tinubu has finalised a Five-Year Strategic Defence Operations Plan aimed at tackling insurgency, banditry and kidnapping across Nigeria.

The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (APC PCC) announced the development in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja by its spokesperson, Dele Alake.

According to the campaign council, the new strategic framework is designed to strengthen Nigeria’s security system by aligning defence priorities, military capabilities and spending with existing and emerging security threats.

The plan is expected to provide a coordinated approach to addressing the country’s security challenges, including the 17-year battle against insurgency, banditry and kidnapping.

According to Alake, the administration’s military operations over the past three years have yielded significant results, including the neutralisation of over 15,000 Boko Haram terrorists and bandits, alongside the surrender of more than 130,000 insurgents and their dependents through the government’s rehabilitation programme, Operation Safe Corridor.

“President Bola Tinubu is determined to end the 17-year scourge of insecurity ravaging parts of Nigeria through a comprehensive Five-Year Strategic Defence Operations Plan designed to strengthen the country’s security architecture, improve military effectiveness, and ensure a coordinated response to emerging threats,” Alake stated.

He explained that the initiative shifts the security apparatus toward a “more coordinated, intelligence-led, technology-enabled, and prevention-oriented system,” combining sustained kinetic military offensives with non-kinetic interventions.

Detailing the structural reforms undertaken to boost troop availability and rapid response, the APC PCC spokesperson said President Tinubu has created four new Nigerian Army divisions and restructured existing military formations to decentralise operations.

To accelerate recruitment, the President also approved establishing two new Army depots in Osogbo, Osun State, and Amasiri-Edda, Ebonyi State. Each facility can train 6,000 recruits simultaneously, adding a combined training capacity of 12,000 soldiers.

Alake noted that the Osogbo depot is already operational, with 5,210 recruits currently undergoing training.

The statement also said the President has authorised a major recruitment drive across the security forces, approving the enlistment of an additional 28,000 soldiers into the Army and 50,000 new officers into the Nigeria Police Force to bolster internal security, improve policing capacity, and strengthen the country’s response to criminal activities.

On personnel welfare, Alake highlighted ongoing investments in military accommodation and operational infrastructure, citing the construction of a 700-unit military barracks in Ikere-Ekiti, Ekiti State.

“These measures reflect the administration’s determination to address manpower and infrastructure gaps, improve the capacity of security agencies, and ensure personnel are adequately trained, equipped, and deployed to areas facing security challenges,” the statement read.

On defence spending and combat readiness, Alake said the Five-Year Strategic Defence Operations Plan ensures clearly identified threats and national priorities guide security sector investments.

He added that the strategic framework is designed to close critical capability gaps, optimise available military resources, and eliminate unnecessary expenditure and waste across the defence sector.

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