Terrorism Related Deaths Drop from 2600 Monthly to 200 – NSA\

• By Halimah Olamide

The National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu said terrorism related deaths have drastically reduce in Nigeria from about 2,600 monthly to less than 200 currently.

Ribadu made this known in an interview with newsmen on the sidelines of the High-Level African Counter-Terrorism Meeting, which opened on Monday in Abuja.

The event has the theme: ‘Strengthening Regional Cooperation and Institution Building to Address the Evolving Threat of Terrorism in Africa’.

It was organised by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and UN Office for Counter-Terrorism.

The NSA said so far, the counter-terrorism efforts of the present administration have been yielding tremendous results, with low cases of terrorism deaths in various parts of the country.

He said the government has been blocking access to small arms and light weapons, making it difficult for non state actors to acquire them.
According to him, there are over three million illicit arms in the hands of wrong people in Nigeria.

“We are working and I think we have done fairly well.

One of the things that we have seen as an indication that things are beginning to look different for example, is AK 47 that used to be sold for less than N500,000 last year but now goes for N5 million.

“This means it is not available and we are mopping them up, we are taking them out, we are destroying them. We do not just take but we destroy,” Ribadu said.

The NSA said that the government chose to pursue these efforts silently in order to achieve results.

“A lot of this work is ongoing, but people don’t really see; we salute our armed forces, our security forces, our governors who are doing extremely well.

“A lot of difference is taking place in Nigeria and that is the reason why I can assure you that in the last one year, we have reduced deaths as a result of violent crimes and use of arms.

“We used to record 2,600 or so a month but now we do have less than 200 on the average.

“It is an indication that we are getting results for the work being done,” he said.

Ribadu said the high-level meeting was convened to find ways to address the problem of terrorism effectively, because of its trans border nature.

“What is happening here is direct consequences of what is probably coming from other places,” he said, adding that the initiative was to adopt continental solutions to the problem.