…Kuje jailbreak, Abuja-Kaduna train bombing, rising terror attacks return to the spotlight as Famadewa enters Aso Rock security architecture
By Abu Adamu
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s appointment of retired Major General Adeyinka A. Famadewa as Special Adviser on Homeland Security has triggered renewed scrutiny of the controversial security legacy of former National Security Adviser, Major General Babagana Monguno (rtd), under whom Famadewa served between 2015 and 2021 as Principal General Staff Officer at the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
In a statement issued through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Presidency described Famadewa as a seasoned security strategist whose appointment would strengthen intelligence coordination, inter-agency collaboration and homeland security management. The government credited him with helping to establish the Intelligence Fusion Centre at ONSA, an integrated platform designed to improve intelligence sharing among the Defence Intelligence Agency, DSS, NIA, the military and the police during the Buhari administration.
However, the appointment has reopened public debate over the security failures recorded during Monguno’s tenure as NSA from 2015 to 2023, a period widely associated with escalating terrorism, mass kidnappings, expanding banditry, and repeated jailbreaks across the country. Critics argue that despite the creation of new intelligence coordination structures during the period, Nigeria witnessed some of its worst security breaches in recent history, including the July 2022 attack on Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja, where more than 850 inmates, including Boko Haram suspects, escaped after a coordinated terrorist assault.
Beyond Kuje, at least 15 major jailbreaks were recorded during Monguno’s years in office, alongside other high-profile attacks such as the Abuja-Kaduna train bombing, repeated school abductions in Dapchi and Kankara, and the resurgence of ISWAP in the North-East. Security analysts have also pointed to the rapid transformation of armed bandit groups into heavily armed insurgent-style networks operating across the North-West and North-Central regions. Ironically, many of the territories reclaimed from Boko Haram towards the end of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration were reportedly lost again during the same period.
Monguno himself later blamed many of the failures on internal sabotage within the Buhari Presidency. Following Buhari’s death, the former NSA publicly alleged that a powerful “cabal” around the former president, including influential presidential associates, deliberately weakened the NSA office by withholding approved security funds and limiting operational authority. He claimed the Office of the National Security Adviser was effectively starved of resources, thereby weakening intelligence coordination and national response capacity. Yet critics questioned those explanations, citing reports of massive security allocations during the period and controversies surrounding the construction of a multi-billion-naira NSA office complex amid worsening insecurity nationwide.
Famadewa’s appointment has also fuelled political speculation within Abuja’s security establishment. While the Presidency insists the new Homeland Security office is intended to complement, not undermine, the Office of the National Security Adviser currently headed by Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, some observers believe the move reflects growing concerns within the administration over deteriorating security conditions across parts of the country. PRNigeria, widely regarded in security circles as historically close to successive NSA offices, swiftly issued a report dismissing rumours that Ribadu had resigned, insisting he still enjoys President Tinubu’s confidence. Nevertheless, for many analysts, the emergence of Famadewa, a key figure from the Mungono era, has inevitably revived difficult questions about one of Nigeria’s most criticised national security periods.
In fact, the situation under Mungono was so bad that even his kinsmen begged Buhari to fire him. In 2022, the NSA’s kinsmen, operating under the umbrella of North East Elders for Peace and Development, in a statement by their National Coordinator, Engr. Zana Goni, appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to “review the nation’s security architecture by first sacking the NSA and replacing him with a competent security adviser.”
They lamented that despite huge funds earmarked every year for the security of Nigeria, “there is little or nothing to show as massive killing of people and raiding of communities in all parts of the country by bandits and Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists continue unabated.”
Noting that this was their second demand, having made the same in 2021, the group blamed President Buhari for allowing the country’s security situation to deteriorate by “leaving Monguno in his position in spite of all the security crisis.”
The North East elders said they had renewed their call for Monguno’s sack because “Nigeria was collapsing due to his inability to manage its security.”
Also in 2022, members of the Arewa Youth Assembly (AYA) staged a protest at the entrance of the National Assembly in Abuja, demanding the removal of Monguno over worsening insecurity across Nigeria. The group accused him of failing to ensure effective coordination among the country’s security agencies.
Addressing journalists during the protest, AYA Publicity Secretary, Aliyu Muhammed, said the NSA had either failed to properly advise the president or his security strategies had proved ineffective, leading to the continued success of terrorists and bandits against Nigerian security forces. The group noted that while the former service chiefs were removed in 2021 over insecurity, Monguno remained in office despite persistent attacks, kidnappings, and killings. The youths also threatened to mobilise mass protests across the 19 northern states if Buhari failed to sack the NSA within days.