Fidelia Soriwei, Abuja
The Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa (retd.), has said the vast and difficult terrain occupied by terrorists remains one of the biggest obstacles confronting security forces in their efforts to rescue abducted victims and combat insecurity across the country.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, Musa said security agencies had intensified rescue operations and were recording successes in securing the freedom of kidnapped victims despite the challenges posed by large forested areas used as hideouts by criminal groups.
According to him, many abductors move deep into remote forests shortly after carrying out attacks, making it difficult for security operatives to quickly track and locate them.
“Few ones now, efforts have been made. If you notice, on a daily basis now, we are really getting, rescuing a lot of them. Yeah, because, like I said, we have 923 square kilometres. So this government is overwhelmed. Sambisa Forest is as big as Belgium, as a country. So when people talk about this, they make it look as if it is one small football field and we are refusing to do anything,” he said.
The defence minister explained that security operations often require extensive intelligence gathering and sustained tracking efforts before troops can reach the locations where victims are being held.
“These places are massive areas. The forest within Kwara comes in from Burkina Faso to Benin Republic into Nigeria and flows through all these things. So what they do is that once these abductions are done, before the information gets to anybody, these guys are already into the forest.
“So it takes a long time for us to follow them, to be able to trace over there. And then the last one that was done in Kwara State, we had to quarantine where they were going, deny them oxygen, and that’s where we were able to get them.”
Musa said recent rescue missions have shown that sustained pressure from security forces often compels terrorists to abandon captives while attempting to evade arrest.
He added that security agencies also focus on cutting off access to supplies and movement routes used by criminal groups to weaken their operations.
The minister further disclosed that ransom payments can sometimes generate intelligence useful for tracking kidnappers, noting that financial transactions linked to criminal activities are being monitored.
He said the Central Bank of Nigeria was working with relevant agencies to trace funds connected to terrorist and kidnapping networks.
Musa also urged governors to carefully review the distribution of motorcycles as palliatives, warning that such items could find their way into the hands of criminal elements and enhance their mobility.
The minister’s remarks come amid ongoing military operations against terrorists, bandits and kidnappers across several parts of the country, with security agencies continuing efforts to secure communities and rescue victims held in captivity.
