The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) has warned that the protracted geopolitical instability, civil unrest, and weak governance within the Lake Chad Basin and the wider Sahel region are directly exacerbating Nigeria’s domestic security challenges. Speaking at a strategic military seminar in Abuja, the Army Chief emphasized that the vast, poorly governed spaces across regional borders have turned the Sahel into a thriving breeding ground and safe haven for violent extremist organizations. This systemic regional fragility allows transnational terror networks, including Boko Haram and ISWAP, to seamlessly traffic illicit small arms, light weapons, and foreign mercenaries directly into Nigeria’s northern theater. The COAS stressed that Nigeria’s internal battles against banditry, terrorism, and mass kidnapping cannot be fully resolved in isolation from these neighboring vulnerabilities. To counter this spillover effect, the military high command is aggressively advocating for enhanced intelligence sharing, joint cross-border tactical operations, and revitalized strategic collaboration through the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF). He concluded by urging regional heads of state to prioritize socio-economic development alongside kinetic operations to permanently uproot the structural drivers of radicalization.
