Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, stated that his boss, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (ret. ), made “tremendous progress” in the war against banditry and insurgency in 2021.

He made the remarks during a press conference in Lagos on Thursday to highlight the “achievements” of the Buhari government during the departing year 2021.

According to figures obtained from the Nigeria Security Tracker, a project of the Council on Foreign Relations’ an American think tank, as well as quarterly reports released by the Kaduna State Government from January to September, 3,125 innocent people were killed and 2,703 were abducted by bandits in northern Nigeria in 2021.

Despite the distressing number of innocent lives lost as a result of bloodthirsty bandits and marauders devastating the northern part of the country and kidnappers prevalent in both the north and the south, Mohammed said the President has accomplished much success in the insecurity fight.

Lai Mohammed said, “This Administration, in spite of daunting challenges, made tremendous progress in 2021 in fighting insecurity, growing the economy, reforming the oil sector to spur more investments, emplacing world-class infrastructure, providing a social safety net for the poor and most vulnerable in the society and also taking advantage of the huge opportunities offered by the Information and Communications Technology Sector.”

Following that, Mohammed, speaking on behalf of the Buhari administration, praised Nigerians for their fortitude in the face of the country’s security difficulties.

He said, “We want to most sincerely thank all Nigerians for their support and perseverance. We want to reassure the nation that President Muhammadu Buhari is determined to leave a legacy of a safe,
secure and prosperous nation.”

Previously, Mohammed stated that over 1,000 terrorists were crushed by soldiers in the sensitive North-East zone, which has been suffocated by the Boko Haram battle for years, and that over 2,000 civilians were rescued, as well as over 22,000 militants surrendered.

According to the minister, military operations in the North-East zone resulted in the neutralization of over 700 bandits, the arrest of over 400 bandits, the rescue of over 1,000 civilians, and the recovery of over 3,200 livestock.

Buhari replaced his service chiefs in January 2021 in response to widespread calls for new blood and strategies to combat insecurity in the country, but many Nigerians remain dissatisfied with their performance during the previous 11 months. Many citizens are also dissatisfied with the President’s regime, which came to power on the back of addressing the country’s security difficulties in 2015, but the situation appears to have deteriorated in the last six years.