The Coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Office of the National Security Adviser, Major General Garba Laka, has said insecurity in Nigeria worsened following the military coups in Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali.

Laka made the disclosure while responding to questions from journalists during the end-of-year media parley with Defence Correspondents on Tuesday.

According to him, the Sahel region, particularly Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali, has witnessed heightened instability and increased extremist activities, developments which have the potential to negatively impact Nigeria’s security situation.

He said, “We have these countries facing these threats and we think we will see peace in Nigeria? No.

“You must have noticed that towards the end of 2023, the security situation was improving, but immediately after the coups in these countries, that was when the situation began to get worse, because these terrorist groups have connections across the Sahel.

“So, Nigeria has to play that leadership role in West Africa and the Sahel to address these threats.”

According to Laka, while issues such as porous borders and the withdrawal of Sahelian states from the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) may negatively impact the fight against insecurity, recent coups in those countries have significantly contributed to the worsening insecurity in Nigeria.

“As long as those countries keep on facing this threat, Nigeria will continue facing the brunt,” Laka said.

“If you look at the whole region, Nigeria is the richest country in West Africa. Nigeria is the only country that you kidnap somebody and ask that 100 million be paid and it will be paid.

“So, these people come into this country to look for means of running their operations across. So as security agencies, we are doing our best. It is a very hard task but we are doing our best and we need the Nigerians to believe in us.”

The counter-terrorism chief stated that kidnapping in Nigeria has become a complex enterprise involving many people—including cases where individuals kidnap themselves and demand ransom from their own family members—as well as informants, making it difficult to address effectively.

He added that many kidnappers have been arrested through tracking and other methods, the details of which are not publicly disclosed due to security concerns.

He, however, noted that a major challenge the centre faces in tracking kidnappers is the use of Point of Sale (POS) operators, as families of kidnap victims often use them to transfer ransom payments, making the kidnappers difficult to trace.

He said: “You may see that a transfer has been made by a victim to a terrorist. If an account number is provided, you might find out it belongs to a POS operator.

“Also, the kidnappers give the POS operator’s number, the victim transfers the money to the POS operator, and then the kidnappers collect it from them. We are, however, working on this, doing our best, and we will not relent.”

He said Nigeria was able to get off the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list through its efforts in tracking ransom payments and recovering funds from terrorists.

“The NCTC set up a joint investigation committee comprising all security agencies involved in financial oversight—EFCC, NFIU, ICPC,” Laka said.

“This is how we were able to track and recover the funds, and arrests were also made. Some of this information is not disclosed to the public because it is sensitive security information. But I guarantee you, we have arrested many people based on ransom payments.”

The NCTC boss stated that the federal government, in collaboration with social media platforms, has blocked numerous accounts belonging to terrorists and violent extremists, helping to curb their indoctrination and recruitment efforts while demonstrating the government’s resolve.

He said: “We have had so many meetings with these social media houses, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and X – though they are in business looking for more subscribers – but we explained to them the effects of certain posts on our national security, and they took them down.

“Even the post of these bandits that you see will come on TikTok showing their loot, we took them down, you won’t see that again.”

The NCTC stated that while terrorist tactics continue to evolve, security agencies are actively countering them as new threats emerge.

“So, we will keep on doing our best, and with Mr. President’s directive, in 2026 we are going to up our game,” Laka said. (The Nation)