The Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (rtd.), has declared a firm policy against negotiating with or paying ransoms to terrorists, stating that such actions only empower criminal networks.
General Musa made the declaration during his ministerial screening before the Senate on Wednesday. He argued that kinetic military force alone is insufficient, accounting for only 25–30% of the solution, and emphasized the need to address root causes like poverty, illiteracy, and weak governance.
“There is no negotiation with any criminal,” Musa stated. “When people pay ransoms, it buys terrorists time to regroup, re-arm and plan new attacks. Communities that negotiated still got attacked later.”
A central pillar of his proposed strategy is the creation of a unified national database. He criticized Nigeria’s fragmented data systems, managed separately by agencies like immigration and the police, as a major obstacle to tracking criminals and financing.
“Something as simple as a unified database for all citizens is urgently needed,” he said, adding that integrated systems would allow for real-time tracking of ransom payments and criminal profiles.
The Minister also called for urgent judicial reforms, including special courts to expedite terrorism cases, and highlighted illegal mining as a key source of terror financing. He announced plans to withdraw soldiers from static checkpoints to free them for more aggressive operations in ungoverned spaces.
Disclaimer:
This article reports on official statements made during a ministerial screening at the Nigerian Senate. CDA News presents these developments factually and does not endorse any specific policy or political figure.
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