President Bola Tinubu on Thursday convened a high-level security meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, with the nation’s military chiefs, intelligence heads and senior security advisers to review the country’s security situation.
Sources familiar with the meeting told The Telegraph that the closed-door session focused on developments across various theatres of operation and assessed ongoing efforts to tackle insecurity nationwide.
The meeting, which lasted more than two hours, was confirmed by the State House through photographs released on Thursday evening.
Among those in attendance were the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu; the Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar; the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa; the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede; the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla; the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar; and the Chief of Defence Intelligence, Major General Emmanuel Undiandeye.
Also present were the Director-General of the Department of State Services, Adeola Ajayi; the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Mohammed Mohammed; the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun; the President’s Special Adviser on Homeland Security, Major General Adeyinka Famadewa (retd.); and other senior security officials.
The meeting came two days after troops of Operation FANSAN YAMMA, supported by the Air Component of the Joint Task Force (North West), disrupted what the military described as a major planned terrorist offensive in Zamfara and Katsina states.
According to the military, three Nigerian Air Force aircraft on July 7 tracked a convoy of about 300 heavily armed terrorists on motorcycles moving from the Sunke-Kumbo axis towards Gummi before carrying out precision airstrikes on the formation.
In a separate operation, troops reportedly killed Alhaji Tukur, identified by the military as a notorious bandit commander and younger brother of wanted kingpin Alhaji Shehu Bagiwaye, in Dogon Kade.
In the North-East, troops of Operation Hadin Kai repelled a fresh attack on the Mairari military base on July 1 amid a series of coordinated assaults on military formations. Security analysts have described the attacks as part of a sustained campaign by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) to overrun forward operating bases and weaken military operations in the region.
Military records indicate that at least 13 attacks on military bases have been recorded in 2026, most of them in Borno State.
As of the time of filing this report, the Presidency had yet to issue an official statement on the outcome of Thursday’s meeting.
At a similar security briefing held in March, Defence Minister Mohammed Badaru said the military had updated the President on ongoing operations across the country and expressed confidence in the armed forces’ ability to overcome the security challenges.
“Contrary to what you may read or hear, the terrorists and bandits are taking more casualties. Their commanders are being killed every day. We are confident of victory,” he said.
