Nigeria Rejects Foreign Mercenaries and Calls for Police‑Military Integration to Fight Banditry

National Security Adviser Major General Babagana Monguno told journalists that Nigeria will not hire foreign mercenaries or negotiate with terrorists, bandits or kidnappers. He said the country has sufficient personnel, equipment and regional intelligence support from the United States, United Kingdom and France to defeat insurgents, noting that 2,403 insurgents were killed between March and December 2020.

Former military governor Colonel Sani Bello urged the federal government to integrate police officers into the armed forces and recall retired soldiers to boost the fight against banditry. Bello argued that security agencies already know the hideouts of bandits and possess drones, artillery and aircraft, but lack political will, and he cited the rapid expansion of the Nigerian army during the civil war as a model for today’s emergency response.