The Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa (retd.), has explained how Nigerian security forces rescue kidnapped victims without paying ransom.
Musa said troops often rely on strategic military manoeuvres to locate terrorists, cut off their escape routes and disrupt access to essential supplies, forcing them to abandon their captives.
The minister made this known on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday while responding to concerns over recent operations in which abducted victims were rescued without the terrorists being apprehended.
According to him, terrorists frequently flee their camps when they sense an approaching military operation, particularly when they detect drones or other surveillance activities, leaving their victims behind.
He said, “Sometimes if you carry out manoeuvres, the funny thing is, the terrorists too don’t want to die.
“So once there’s anything, even if it’s a drone that comes, you see them scatter away and leave everybody.”
Musa explained that once the location of a terrorist group is established, security forces work to restrict its movement and cut off access to supplies such as food, water and fuel.
He said the continued assistance terrorists receive from people who secretly supply them with essential materials makes it possible for them to remain operational.
The minister stated, “Once we’re able to identify where they are, we block avenues for them.
Take out the oxygen, they will die. Those are the aspects, and that’s why as long as people go to support, sneak in, give them fuel, water and food, these are the things that are making them thrive.”
Musa also disclosed that ransom payments could provide useful intelligence for tracking criminal groups, noting that the Central Bank of Nigeria was working to trace funds suspected to be connected to criminal activities.
He said financial tracking could help security agencies identify the movement and destination of money associated with kidnapping and other crimes.
The defence minister also appealed to state governors to review the distribution of motorcycles as palliatives, warning that some of the motorcycles could eventually fall into the hands of terrorists and bandits.
Musa said the motorcycles provide criminals with greater mobility, enabling them to move quickly through difficult terrain and escape security operations.
He urged governors who must distribute motorcycles to consider lower-capacity models that would be less useful to terrorists.
He further raised concerns that motorcycles distributed through constituency projects and other government programmes could eventually be diverted to criminal groups.