… Tasks Media on Responsible Reporting, Warns Against Terrorist Propaganda
Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai (retd.), has called for increased investment in artificial intelligence, intelligence gathering and non-military strategies to address Nigeria’s security challenges, warning that military force alone cannot defeat insurgency and other forms of asymmetric warfare.
Buratai made the call on Monday while delivering a keynote address titled “Beyond Kinetic Warfare: Harnessing Technology and Intelligence-Led Operations for Nigeria’s National Security” at the Defence Correspondents Association of Nigeria’s Conference on National Security and Awards Ceremony in Abuja.
The former army chief, who also served as Nigeria’s ambassador to the Republic of Benin, said the country needed an integrated security framework combining military operations, advanced technology, intelligence sharing, community engagement and strategic communication.
According to him, the changing nature of security threats requires a departure from approaches that rely predominantly on conventional military force.
He argued that although airstrikes, armoured advances and special operations remain essential to combating terrorism, lasting security cannot be achieved without addressing the social, economic and ideological factors that sustain violence.
“Kinetic action can win battles, but it cannot win wars alone,” Buratai said, stressing the need to complement military operations with measures that tackle extremist recruitment, disrupt criminal financing and improve community confidence in security agencies.
He cited Nigeria’s experience in the fight against Boko Haram, noting that military operations between 2015 and 2021 helped recover territories previously controlled by insurgents, reopen major highways and restore government presence in several communities.
However, he warned that tactical victories could be reversed if affected communities continued to experience poverty, marginalisation and limited economic opportunities.
Buratai advocated greater use of non-kinetic approaches, including dialogue, psychological operations, civil-military cooperation, rehabilitation and reintegration programmes, as well as improved local governance.
He illustrated the importance of community engagement with an account of how military commanders in Borno State reportedly addressed tensions between indigenes and settlers by helping farmers return safely to their fields.
According to him, the provision of military escorts and rotational farming arrangements helped restore agricultural activities while encouraging residents to provide intelligence on insurgent movements.
He said the experience demonstrated that understanding local grievances and livelihoods could improve intelligence gathering and weaken the ability of insurgents to recruit new fighters.
The former army chief also highlighted the importance of technology in strengthening Nigeria’s security architecture.
He referenced a reported agreement between the Federal Ministry of Defence and the United Kingdom-based MARSS Group for the deployment of an artificial intelligence-driven command, control, communications, computers and intelligence system.
Buratai said an integrated technological framework could improve surveillance, coordinate operations across multiple security domains and reduce the time required to detect and respond to threats.
He explained that combining information from drones, ground sensors, vehicles and other surveillance platforms could give commanders a more comprehensive operational picture.
Such capabilities, he said, could prove particularly useful in tackling kidnapping, banditry and other criminal activities in forested areas where conventional ground operations face significant challenges.
Buratai, however, cautioned against treating technology as a substitute for human intelligence.
He maintained that technical surveillance must be complemented by information from local communities, arguing that residents often possess critical knowledge about the identities, movements and intentions of criminal groups.
“Technical and human intelligence are complementary,” he said, emphasising the need for security agencies to combine technological capabilities with a deeper understanding of local conditions.
On intelligence-led operations, Buratai said security agencies must prioritise identifying threats before they escalate, understanding adversaries’ networks and disrupting the financial and logistical systems that sustain criminal activities.
Reflecting on his tenure as Chief of Army Staff, he said efforts to track insurgents’ supply chains, including sources of weapons, food and fuel, formed an important component of military operations against Boko Haram.
He argued that targeting such networks could weaken the operational capacity of armed groups even when their fighters remained difficult to locate.
Buratai also called for stronger cooperation among the military, intelligence services and police, identifying inadequate equipment, weak intelligence-sharing mechanisms and strained police-community relations as some of the obstacles to effective intelligence-led operations.
He said Nigeria’s security challenges had evolved from earlier forms of political and communal violence into a complex network of threats involving insurgency, banditry, kidnapping, farmer-herder conflicts, separatist violence and cybercrime.
According to him, the diversity of these threats makes it necessary for security agencies to adopt strategies tailored to the peculiarities of different regions rather than rely exclusively on centralised approaches.
The former ambassador further identified the media as a critical component of national security, warning that misinformation, unverified reports and terrorist propaganda could undermine public confidence and complicate security operations.
He urged journalists to prioritise verification and responsible reporting, particularly in an era when artificial intelligence and manipulated digital content could be used to spread false information.
However, Buratai stressed that responsible security reporting should not be confused with censorship, insisting that media freedom and accountability remain essential in a democratic society.
He said journalists must retain the freedom to investigate security expenditure, report operational shortcomings and scrutinise the conduct of security agencies.
Drawing on his experience as Chief of Army Staff, Buratai also defended the embedded journalist model, through which defence correspondents were given access to frontline military operations during the campaign against Boko Haram.
He said the initiative helped journalists gain firsthand knowledge of battlefield conditions, the sacrifices of military personnel and the experiences of civilians affected by the conflict.
According to him, the programme also helped counter insurgent propaganda by enabling independent journalists to report on liberated communities, captured weapons, surrendered fighters and reconstruction efforts.
Buratai maintained that the arrangement was not intended to control media coverage, but to improve access to information and allow journalists to assess military operations firsthand.
He acknowledged concerns about operational security and journalistic independence but argued that the model demonstrated how cooperation between the military and the media could strengthen public understanding of national security.
The former army chief said the media should be recognised as a strategic partner in security governance while retaining its watchdog responsibilities.
He concluded that Nigeria’s response to insecurity must combine effective military action with technological innovation, reliable intelligence, community participation, economic interventions and professional media engagement.
Buratai said sustainable peace would depend not only on the ability of security forces to defeat armed groups but also on the country’s capacity to prevent recruitment, rebuild affected communities and strengthen public trust in government institutions.
