Tinubu says Nigerian forces killed 13,000 militants in past year
Nigeria’s president said fighters have surrendered in large numbers, but kidnappings and attacks continue across the country.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
2 min read
Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said the country’s armed forces killed more than 13,000 people he described as terrorists over the past year. The claim comes as Nigeria continues to face attacks and ransom kidnappings by armed groups and criminal gangs, according to Al Jazeera.
In a televised address on Friday marking Nigeria’s Democracy Day, Tinubu said deaths linked to the country’s fight against armed rebels had fallen 81 percent since he took office in 2023, Al Jazeera reported. Democracy Day commemorates the end of years of military rule and the return to civilian government in 1999.
Tinubu also said 124,000 fighters and their dependants had surrendered since 2023 under Operation Safe Corridor, according to Al Jazeera. The programme is intended to rehabilitate members of armed groups who voluntarily give up their weapons.
The president’s remarks presented the government’s security campaign as making gains. Al Jazeera reported, however, that Nigeria, described as Africa’s second-biggest economy, remains in a severe security crisis involving groups linked to ISIL and al-Qaeda as well as criminal gangs that abduct people for ransom.
Schools, churches and mosques in rural areas with limited state security have been frequent targets, Al Jazeera reported. The violence was once concentrated in northern Nigeria, but armed groups have begun using forest corridors to strike in the southwest as well.
Officials say the armed groups have shifted locations because of pressure from military operations, according to Al Jazeera. The spread of attacks has added to public concern over the state’s ability to protect communities outside major urban centres.
Al Jazeera reported that the United States military has begun helping Nigeria carry out precision strikes against armed group positions after US President Donald Trump made what Al Jazeera described as unfounded allegations late last year of a “Christian genocide” in Nigeria. In February, 100 American soldiers were deployed to the country, according to the report.
Kidnappings have continued this year. Al Jazeera reported that scores of people have been abducted since January, including teachers and pupils as young as four.
In May, 46 people were kidnapped from a school in southwestern Oyo state, according to Al Jazeera. The incident added to a pattern of school abductions that has put pressure on authorities and prompted protests by teachers in northern Nigeria.
On Monday, Nigeria’s military said it had rescued 360 people kidnapped by Boko Haram, an ISIL-linked group, Al Jazeera reported. The military said the captives had been held in a remote mountain hideout in northern Borno state.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.