The Nigerian Armed Forces will gradually withdraw from internal security duties and hand over routine law enforcement to the Nigeria Police Force as civil security capacity expands, the Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa (retd.), has announced.
​Speaking on Thursday at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja during a strategic security briefing with senior military commanders and civil authority representatives, Gen. Musa outlined the government’s plan to transition the armed forces back to their core constitutional mandate of territorial defense.
​The Defence Minister stated that the military will incrementally step back from internal deployment and retreat to barracks as ongoing police recruitment, training, and operational enhancement programs yield results.
He noted that prolonged internal duties across multiple geopolitical zones have placed a severe strain on personnel, with many troops facing continuous deployments spanning up to two years without adequate rest or family contact.
​To ensure a seamless transition, a strategic security assessment meeting between defense leadership and the Inspector-General of Police was convened to map out capacity gaps and establish clear handover timetables.
Beyond tactical redeployment, Gen. Musa emphasized the need for broader non-kinetic reforms, advocating for enhanced national identity management systems and a critical re-evaluation of physical security infrastructure, including static checkpoints.
​”We are assisting the police as they build their capacity,” Gen. Musa said. “Gradually, we too will start pulling out and going back to the barracks so that we can have time to rest.
We’re looking at how we can enhance the police, because my men are tired. If there are issues that are beyond the police, the military can come in, but the idea is that we are currently too exposed.”
​The multi-front involvement of the military in domestic security, spanning counter-insurgency operations in the Northeast, anti-banditry efforts in the Northwest, and maritime security in the Niger Delta, has expanded significantly over the past decade.
Defence Ministry spokesperson Director of Defence Information Brig. Gen. Tukur Gusau confirmed that the Federal Government is actively coordinating with inter-agency partners to ensure no security vacuums are created in vulnerable regions during the phased transition.
