The Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa, has declared that the government will not negotiate with terrorists or pay ransom for kidnapped victims, insisting that such actions only empower criminal networks.
Gen. Musa made the remarks yesterday during his screening by the Senate, stressing that the fight against insecurity in Nigeria would remain ineffective without the establishment of a unified national database linking citizens to all security, banking, and identity systems.
“There is no negotiation with any criminal. When people pay ransoms, it buys terrorists time to regroup, re-arm and plan new attacks. Communities that negotiated still got attacked later,” he said. The minister also highlighted the capability of Nigeria’s banking system to digitally track ransom payments and other financial flows linked to crime, if fully activated.
His screening coincided with discussions in the House of Representatives, where lawmakers called for open and transparent prosecution of terrorism-related cases as a strategy to reduce violent crimes. Meanwhile, the Senate moved to strengthen Nigeria’s anti-kidnapping laws by pushing for the death penalty for kidnappers, financiers, and those providing information to terrorists. The lawmakers debated amendments to the 2022 Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act.
Gen. Musa, a retired general, further argued that military operations account for only 25–30 per cent of counter-insurgency efforts. He pointed to poverty, illiteracy, poor governance, and weak local government structures as persistent factors fueling criminal activities.
“The war against insecurity cannot be won by kinetic efforts alone. We must address the social and governance deficits that sustain criminal networks,” he added.
