Attacks On Senior Military Officers Reflect New Phase Of Insecurity —Expert Warns

By Omoyeni Ojeifo

The targeted killings and abductions of senior military officers—including the recent attack on retired Major General Maharazu Tsiga and the targeting of retired General Rabe Abubakar—must serve as a stark wake-up call for Nigeria’s security apparatus.

Counter-terrorism expert and lawyer Bulama Bukarti raised this alarm during an interview on Channels Television, monitored by Persecondnews on Sunday.

Bukarti said the pattern of attacks on high-ranking military officers reflects a dangerous escalation in insecurity and a growing boldness among armed groups operating across the country.

“This is a wake-up call for the Nigerian Army. If a general will be treated in this way and if this group gets away with it, they are telling criminal gangs that even military generals can be attacked and nothing will happen,”he said.

Bukarti said the development goes beyond isolated incidents, warning that repeated targeting of senior officers signals weakening deterrence and rising confidence among criminal networks.

He argued that insecurity in Nigeria has been allowed to expand over time, enabling armed groups to entrench themselves, widen their operational reach, and carry out increasingly high-profile attacks.

“If they knew they were abducting a retired major general, then this attack was orchestrated to erode public confidence and force the hand of government. The more insecurity festers, the more it expands, flourishes and erodes public confidence,”he maintained.

The security analyst also raised concerns over operational gaps, questioning how armed groups are able to carry out kidnappings and still maintain communication, mobility, and access to logistics without being effectively tracked or dismantled.

According to him, the situation reflects both an intelligence challenge and a coordination problem within Nigeria’s wider security architecture.

He also cautioned against politicising insecurity, saying the growing violence is better explained by the sustained expansion of criminal networks rather than election-driven narratives or political conspiracy theories.

On government’s response, Bukarti urged President Bola Tinubu to move beyond repeated declarations and focus on operational reform and coordination among security agencies.

“Enough of declarations, enough of statements, enough of speeches. President Tinubu should be different. We must get on with it and show these people that there is law and order in this country.”

Bukarti also stressed the need to target supply chains sustaining armed groups, noting that food, fuel, weapons, and logistics reaching forest hideouts originate from outside those locations.

He said strengthening border monitoring, disrupting supply routes, and deploying technology-driven intelligence would significantly weaken criminal networks over time.

Bukarti insisted that only sustained, coordinated, and intelligence-led operations can reverse the current security trajectory and restore public confidence in the state’s ability to protect lives and property.