Former Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai (retd.), has stirred controversy with a bold statement on Nigeria’s insecurity, insisting that if security agencies can track social media influencers, they can also track kidnappers and terrorists.

Buratai stated this in an interview recently.

“I don’t think they failed to locate. If they can locate ordinary citizens or social media influencers, I don’t believe they can’t locate these bandits that flaunt their loot or whatever activities they do.”

“There may be operational reasons behind their decisions, I would not like to say it is a capacity-building challenge, but I think they may have their reasons.”

“There is a need for more operatives. We need more troops to be recruited, more operatives and more policemen.”

“The military has specialised units capable of carrying out hostage rescue missions, including the Nigerian Navy’s Special Boat Service and the Nigerian Army’s Special Forces. However, concerns over hostage safety and potential collateral damage often influence operational decisions in kidnapping cases.”