Nigeria’s security agencies conducted 7,062 operations across the country in July and August, neutralising 1,487 terrorists and insurgents and rescuing 777 kidnapped victims, the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) has said.
The figures, contained in the third-quarter national security update released in Abuja on Monday, reflect what the ONSA described as a more coordinated and intelligence-driven response to terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, arms trafficking and other security threats.
Chido Onumah, Special Adviser to the National Security Adviser on Strategic Communication and Civil Society Liaison, said the operations also led to the arrest of 354 suspects and the recovery of firearms, ammunition and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
The figures are consistent with an operational assessment separately released by the Defense Headquarters, which said the 7,062 operations involved coordinated land, air, and maritime efforts against terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, arms trafficking, oil theft, and other criminal activities.
Mr. Onumah said the results demonstrated the growing importance of intelligence sharing and coordination among security and law enforcement agencies.
He said no single institution could secure the country alone, stressing the need for effective intelligence gathering, border management, financial intelligence, emergency preparedness and community engagement.
According to him, the Nigeria Police Force also recorded significant gains during the period, arresting 1,334 suspects and rescuing 383 kidnapped victims.
The police recovered 175 firearms and more than 3,790 rounds of ammunition while disrupting networks involved in kidnapping, armed robbery, cultism and gunrunning, he said.
Mr. Onumah said the State Security Service also complemented the efforts through intelligence-led operations targeting arms trafficking, terrorism, kidnapping, and other threats.
He said the agency’s interventions disrupted illicit supply chains, facilitated hostage rescues, and contributed to convictions for serious security offenses.
The government’s broader security strategy also focused on cutting off the supply of weapons used by criminal groups.
Mr. Onumah said the National Center for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons destroyed 1,419 illicit weapons on July 30, taking the total number of weapons destroyed by the center since 2022 to more than 19,000.
In August, the Nigeria Customs Service handed over 399 intercepted firearms and hundreds of firearm components to the centre.
The firearms were intercepted at the Tin Can Island Port in Lagos. Customs said the consignment included 399 Jojef pump-action rifles and 535 assorted firearm components. The shipment had arrived aboard the vessel MV Velika on July 8 and was flagged for inspection through the service’s risk-management system.
The interception, Mr. Onumah said, illustrated the importance of linking border enforcement, intelligence gathering, and arms-control institutions in tackling the flow of weapons into the country.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) also intensified operations against the drug trade during the two-month period.
Mr Onumah said the agency conducted 2,298 targeted operations, arrested 3,705 suspects and secured 471 convictions.
“It also seized almost 54,000kg of illicit drugs and obtained court orders freezing accounts containing more than N9.8 billion linked to cartel operations.”
He said the figures underscored the importance of following the money, noting that organized crime relied on networks of financiers, facilitators, transporters, and criminal entrepreneurs.
Mr. Onumah said the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit was deepening cooperation with security and law enforcement agencies to identify financial structures supporting organized crime and terrorism.
The latest figures come as the security agencies increasingly combine military operations with intelligence-led arrests, financial investigations, arms interdiction and border enforcement in an effort to disrupt criminal networks rather than only target their operatives.
The Defence Headquarters separately reported that the military recovered firearms and ammunition and destroyed IEDs during the July-August operations, while its offensives were conducted across the six geopolitical zones.
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