Porous borders driving Nigeria’s insecurity, says defence minister Christopher Musa
Christopher Musa, Nigeria’s minister of defence, has said porous borders are a major factor fuelling the country’s worsening insecurity.
Speaking in an interview with the BBC, Musa said the federal government is considering measures such as border walls and advanced surveillance technology to curb illegal crossings that enable terrorists, bandits and kidnappers to operate across Nigeria.
“Porous borders are one of the main reasons for insecurity in Nigeria,” he said.
Musa noted that while constructing a physical wall across Nigeria’s more than 4,000 kilometres of land borders may not be practical, technology could play a critical role in monitoring movements and triggering alerts when people cross illegally.
The former chief of defence staff said other countries with even longer borders have successfully adopted similar security measures.
According to him, the government also plans to work closely with border communities to ensure residents understand their role in preventing terrorists from exploiting their areas.
“Maybe we cannot have physical walls everywhere, but there is technology we can deploy systematically. Once someone crosses, an alarm is triggered and we take action,” Musa said.
“We need to create awareness and communicate with communities so they do not support terrorists in any way.”
His comments come amid a wave of mass abductions in Niger, Kebbi and Kwara states towards the end of 2025.
On Christmas Day, the United States carried out air strikes on suspected hideouts of the Lakurawa group in Sokoto State, an operation Musa said forced the terrorists to flee back to Niger Republic.
The defence minister also dismissed claims that the government pays ransom to bandits, saying many kidnappers abandon their captives when pressured by the military.
“We do not approve ransom payments for any reason,” he said.
Musa further rejected allegations by Donald Trump that Christians are being persecuted in Nigeria, stressing that insecurity affects all citizens regardless of religion.
“Nigerians are being killed. That is the bottom line,” he said.
“Our focus is to stop the killings, whoever the perpetrators or victims are.”
