Army recalibrates strategy to tackle Nigeria’s security threats — COAS
By SUMAYYAH ADEFAKA
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, said the Nigerian Army deliberately recalibrated its operational doctrine, force posture, and employment of capabilities through a comprehensive multi-domain strategy in order to tackle the country’s current security threats.
He said the approach integrates decisive kinetic action with intelligence fusion, inter-agency cooperation, joint operations with sister services, and sustained international partnerships.
The COAS said this when he delivered a lecture titled “Combating Asymmetric Threats to National Security in Nigeria: The Nigerian Army in Perspective” at the National Defence College (NDC), Abuja, on Tuesday.
General Shaibu noted that the contemporary global security environment has undergone a fundamental transformation, shifting from traditional state-centric warfare to complex intra-state conflicts dominated by non-state actors, including cybercriminals and transnational organised crime networks that deliberately exploit governance gaps, societal vulnerabilities, and emerging technologies.
He highlighted the growing impact of advanced technologies, enhanced training regimes, and deeper jointness with sister services in improving situational awareness, operational reach, and mission effectiveness.
General Shaibu stressed that enduring peace can only be achieved when military operations are reinforced by effective governance, justice delivery, and inclusive socio-economic development.
He reaffirmed the Army’s unwavering commitment to a dynamic, intelligence-driven, and technology-enabled approach in confronting asymmetric threats to national security.
The COAS said, “Asymmetric threats thrive on adaptability, anonymity, and the targeting of civilians to erode public confidence and state authority.
“Our response must therefore be equally adaptive, proactive, intelligence-led and collaborative, leveraging military power alongside technology, whole-of-government coordination and strategic partnerships.”
He explained that across Nigeria’s geo-political zones, the Army operations have been deliberately tailored to prevailing threat dynamics.
“In the North-East, sustained counter-insurgency operations have continued to degrade terrorist capabilities through a combination of offensive manoeuvres, intelligence-driven strikes and population-centric stabilisation efforts,’ the COAS said.
Shaibu noted that in the North-West theatre, wide-ranging joint operations have intensified pressure on bandit groups, disrupted their logistics and financing networks, and strengthened the protection of vulnerable communities.
“Meanwhile, in the North-Central region, enduring stabilisation operations have focused on area domination, protection of civilians and the containment of communal and militia-related violence,” he said.
