Oyo School Abduction: Expand Counter-Terrorism Centres to States, Buratai Urges FG
By Matthew Eloyi
Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (Rtd), has called on the Federal Government to decentralise Nigeria’s counter-terrorism operations by establishing state-level branches of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) to strengthen intelligence gathering and response to security threats across the country.
Buratai made the call while speaking on TVC’s Beyond the Headlines programme with Nifemi Oguntoye, following the recent abduction of schoolchildren and staff in Oyo State and the reported beheading of one of the teachers.
According to the retired military chief, the NCTC under the Office of the National Security Adviser should be expanded beyond its Abuja headquarters and equipped with advanced technology and operational capabilities to coordinate intelligence and security responses nationwide.
“The Office of the National Security Adviser has the National Counter Terrorism Centre. It should be further expanded to have branches in various states with highly technical equipment, very good operation centres or situation rooms as the case may be,” Buratai said.
“They will be able to do a lot in coordination with security agencies and the military. They need to expand beyond their beautiful headquarters in Abuja.”
Describing the Oyo incident as “highly unfortunate,” Buratai lamented the kidnapping of the pupils and their teachers, as well as the killing of one of the victims.
He, however, expressed confidence that security agencies were actively working to secure the release of those abducted.
“The security agencies must be aware of where the Oyo kidnapped victims are. But I believe also that the collateral damage is a major factor that should be put into consideration and it requires a lot of strategies and planning to be able to carry out such a rescue operation,” he said.
“I believe the security agencies are not sleeping and are on top of the situation.”
The former army chief traced the roots of Nigeria’s insecurity to the early years of the Boko Haram insurgency, noting that although the group officially emerged in 2009, its activities dated back several years earlier.
According to him, the security crisis first took hold in the North-East before spreading to the North-West, North-Central and now parts of the South-West.
“You can see the pattern in terms of this insurgency or insecurity in general. That pattern is well understood,” he said.
Buratai attributed the persistence of insecurity to a combination of socio-economic challenges and political factors, arguing that criminal and terrorist groups often exploit periods of political transition and heightened political activity to intensify their operations.
He cited the transition period leading to the administration of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as an example, noting that successive governments had made efforts to confront the threat despite its continued evolution.
The retired general also rejected suggestions that the security situation amounted to a complete failure of government institutions, insisting that terrorist networks operate within communities and rely on local support structures.
“It’s relative for us to say either a government or an institution has failed,” he said.
“You can blame the government sometimes for probably lack of coordination and failure to provide resources, but by and large, what I know is that these terrorists live within our society, they live in our backyards, communities and villages. They have networks both in town and villages.”
Buratai recalled that joint efforts by security forces and members of the Civilian Joint Task Force had significantly degraded insurgent groups in the past, forcing many of them out of populated areas and into remote locations.
However, he warned that such groups remain resilient and often take advantage of election seasons and political transitions to demonstrate their continued presence.
His comments come amid growing concerns over the spread of kidnapping and violent attacks into parts of southern Nigeria, including recent incidents in Oyo State that have heightened fears over the country’s worsening security challenges.
