In a disturbing development, a joint task force has apprehended 41 security officials and traditional leaders on allegations of selling weapons to groups hostile to the state.
Troops of the Joint Task Force, North-east Operation Hadin Kai, revealed they have arrested no fewer than 41 individuals, including soldiers, police personnel, and traditional leaders. These arrests were made across the North-east and other parts of the country for allegedly supplying arms and ammunition to terrorists and other adversaries.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian military has strongly refuted a viral report attributed to Amnesty International regarding killings, abductions, and displacements nationwide. They dismissed the report’s claims of over 148 villages being sacked by gunmen across seven local government areas of Benue State and an ignored humanitarian crisis as “fallacious.”
Efforts by the Joint Task Force, South-east, Operation Udo Ka, to build trust with communities and counter extremist ideologies have faced a setback. Their FM station, Udo Ka FM, established for these goals, is currently operating below its capacity.
The military also expressed concern over an observed increase in cases of collaboration by some non-governmental organizations, who are reportedly delivering additives and food items to terrorist locations under the guise of humanitarian assistance.
The military high command confirmed that 18 serving soldiers, 15 policemen, and eight civilians, including a traditional ruler, were among those arrested for selling arms to non-state actors.
Addressing defense correspondents in Maiduguri, Theatre Commander of Operation Hadin Kai, Major General Abdulsalam Abubakar, stated that these operations spanned across 11 states, with arrests made in Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Ebonyi, Enugu, Lagos, Plateau, Kaduna, Rivers, Taraba, and the Federal Capital Territory.
According to General Abubakar, “So far, a total of 18 soldiers, 15 mobile policemen, and eight civilians, including a traditional ruler, have been arrested.” He noted that initial findings from the ongoing investigation suggest “community pressure on serving security personnel to supply arms and ammunition for communal conflicts as driving factors.” The “lucrative nature of trading in ammunition is another driving factor for its persistence.”
He cited specific cases, including Sgt. Ameh Raphael, an Armourer with 7th Division Garrison, who has been involved in the trade since 2018 and has over N45 million in his account. Similarly, Sgt. Seidi Adamu of 3rd Division Ordnance Services, in the trade since 2022, has over N34 million. A staggering N135 million was reportedly found to have passed through the account of Insp. Enoch Ngwa, a policeman arrested for arms racketeering.
The Commander emphasized the need for “more stringent punishment” to deter future perpetrators.
He also highlighted significant progress in combating terrorist logistics suppliers and collaborators, stating that “From January 2025 to date, over 186 terrorist logistics suppliers, spies, and collaborators have been arrested across the theatre of operation.”
However, concerns remain over the proliferation of drugs and narcotics, which enhance terrorist capabilities. To counter this, the Joint Intelligence Mission Centre, Military Intelligence Base, and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency are intensifying efforts.
General Abubakar lamented the actions of “fifth columnists” undermining Operation Hadin Kai’s success. He also noted that “a few soldiers motivated by greed are involved in ammunition racketeering, deliberately diverting arms from military stockpiles and supply chains to terrorists.” He cited a recent incident on February 24th where a soldier was arrested with 30 rounds of ammunition in Kano. He reiterated warnings to troops about severe repercussions for such actions, including dismissal and handover to the police.
Highlighting achievements, General Abubakar recalled how terrorists issued a vacation order in Kukawa town in May 2024, causing a mass exodus. However, Operation Hadin Kai’s stabilization efforts, including deploying excavators and constructing watchtowers, led to the return of over 10,000 locals to their homes.
He reported that troops of Operation Hadin Kai killed 694 terrorists and recovered 603 assault weapons, 56 RPG bombs, 16 mortar bombs, 147,137 units of anti-aircraft weapons, 16 pickup vehicles, and more. He added that the Joint Task Force has recorded over 12 drone incidents since 2004.
As a countermeasure, the Nigerian Army established an Unmanned Aerial Base Command in 2022, which has conducted 1,138 intelligence surveillance reconnaissance missions, providing crucial real-time intelligence for operations.
Responding to Amnesty International’s data alleging 450,000 displacements to IDP camps, Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Markus Kangye, dismissed the claims. He called “fallacious” the report of over 672 communities overrun in Nigeria, including 167 in Plateau State in the last two years.
General Kangye stated that the report on Plateau State was “a deliberate effort to mislead the general public towards galvanizing negative public opinion against the military.” He questioned Amnesty International’s methodology, citing their claim of 10,217 deaths in Nigeria from May 29, 2023, with 2,630 in Plateau State.
He explained that after reorganizing deployments in Plateau State from July 2023, the state saw continuous improvement until recent coordinated attacks in Bokkos and Bassa LGAs on April 2 and 14, 2025. He maintained that the period covered did not record widespread coordinated attacks except for the Christmas Eve 2023 incident and the recent breaches. He concluded that the allegation of killing 2,630 persons in Plateau State over the past two years is “a concoction of falsehood in pursuit of a self-serving agenda.”
