…Demands Unified National Database to Identify All Nigerians
…Vows Full Probe Into Death of Brig-Gen Uba
By Peter Salami
Minister-designate and former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa (rtd.), yesterday declared that Nigeria cannot defeat insecurity without first establishing a unified national database capable of identifying every citizen and synchronising all security, banking, immigration, and identity systems.
Speaking during his ministerial screening in Abuja, Musa said Nigeria’s disjointed data regime remains one of the greatest enablers of terrorism, banditry, and organised crime, allowing criminals to move across the country without trace.
According to him, Nigeria’s current “multiple data islands” run separately by immigration, quarantine services, and other agencies have created security gaps repeatedly exploited by kidnappers, terrorists, cyber-criminals, and illegal mining cartels.
He stated: “We urgently need one unified national database. Not immigration having one and quarantine having another. Once a criminal offends, we should be able to track and trace without delay. Other countries instantly deactivate bank accounts and digital access; we must get there.”
Musa stressed that modern ICT tools would transform investigations by enabling security agencies to trace ransom payments, monitor suspicious financial flows, and map out criminal networks in real time.
He was emphatic that Nigeria must outlaw ransom payments and halt every form of negotiation with terrorists, insisting that such actions only fuel further violence.
“There is no negotiation with any criminal. Paying ransom helps terrorists regroup, re-arm, and launch new attacks. Many communities that negotiated still got attacked later,” he warned.
He added that ransom trails can be digitally monitored, arguing that Nigeria’s banking infrastructure has everything needed to trace criminal financing if properly harnessed.
The former CDS noted that kinetic military action accounts for just 25–30 per cent of the counter-insurgency effort, while poverty, poor governance, illiteracy, and weak local structures continue to feed insecurity.
He challenged state and local governments to take responsibility for grassroots intelligence, stressing that the military alone cannot secure the entire country.
Musa also lamented Nigeria’s slow judicial process, particularly the endless trials of terrorism suspects, describing the delays as demoralising for frontline troops.
“In other countries, terrorism cases are concluded decisively. Here they drag for years, weakening the morale of personnel who risk their lives,” he noted.
He called for urgent legal reforms: special courts, tougher penalties, and accelerated hearings, to strengthen national security outcomes.
Musa further raised concerns over renewed criminal activities along maritime routes between Akwa Ibom and Cameroon, noting a resurgence in piracy, coastal kidnappings, and sea robbery. He confirmed that Operation Delta Safe had been expanded to cover areas previously left unattended.
He demanded a total ban on illegal mining nationwide, describing it as a major funding pipeline for armed groups entrenched in forests across several states.
Musa announced plans to pull troops from routine checkpoints so they can redeploy into forests and ungoverned spaces, stressing that safe access to farmlands must be restored to protect national food security.
“A hungry man is an angry man. Securing farmers is securing the nation,” he said.
He revealed that although over 70,000 Nigerians apply to join the armed forces annually, many recruits resist deployment to conflict theatres, an issue he believes a unified database will help address by validating the identity and background of applicants.
On public expectations, Musa said he fully understands the weight of national responsibility before him: “I cannot afford to fail my nation. Nigerians want peace, and we must deliver it.”
Responding to senators’ questions on mass school abductions, he described the situation as tragic but insisted that only a holistic national response can solve it.
“The kidnapping of students is unfortunate. The Safe Schools Initiative has been implemented, but it needs a critical review to make the approach more holistic,” he said.
He reiterated that empowering communities is central to defeating kidnappers, noting that crime is largely localised.
“We must build the resilience of our communities. If locals have the capacity, they become the first responders,” he explained.
Musa emphasised a whole-of-society security model combining technology, local participation, and coordinated operations, and called for improved accountability across all security formations.
On the abduction of 25 schoolgirls in Maga, Danko Wasagu LGA of Kebbi State, he vowed to investigate why troops reportedly withdrew from their duty posts shortly before the attack.
He also pledged that, once in office, he would empanel a committee to investigate the killing of Brigadier General Musa Uba, stressing that every unanswered incident weakens public confidence in the military.
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