President Bola Tinubu used Nigeria’s 27th Democracy Day broadcast on Friday to deliver his most direct ultimatum yet to armed groups terrorising the country.
“To bandits, kidnappers, and sponsors of terror: Surrender or face the full force of the Nigerian State. These windows of surrender will not remain open forever. No mercy will be shown to those who trade in the blood of Nigerians,” he said.
The President said his government had degraded ISWAP’s command centre in Arege, Borno State, with terror-related deaths down 81% since 2015 and over 13,000 terrorists neutralised in the past year alone. He also revealed that more than 124,000 fighters and their dependents have surrendered since 2023 through Operation Safe Corridor.
Tinubu confirmed his administration declared a security emergency, approving the recruitment of over 50,000 new police officers and thousands of military personnel, backed by a record ₦5.41 trillion security budget for 2026 — the largest in Nigeria’s history.
He acknowledged the pain of the recent child abductions in Oyo and Borno States, saying the nation remains hopeful for their safe return, and called for unity: “Crime has no ethnicity… the enemies of our nation shall soon be history.”
- Channels TV