Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Olufemi Oluyede, says the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) is set to deploy the Joint Special Task Force, known as ‘Savanah Shield’, to clean up terrorists in Kwara and parts of Niger.

Mr Oluyede made this known at the 2026 budget defence session organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Defence in Abuja on Tuesday.

He said the military had been doing everything with its best to ensure that Nigeria was safer for citizens and investors.

Mr Oluyede said things are currently much better in the North-East zone, adding, however, that there are lingering challenges in the North-West and North-Central zones.

“We are evolving modalities to checkmate all these challenges within the ambit of the resources that we have.

“A new set of special forces was trained and drafted to Benue and Plateau; we are about to deploy another joint task force that will cover Kwara and some parts of Niger to ensure that things get better, and it will be named Savanah Shield.

“A joint task commander has been appointed, and we are trying to draw resources from other places to ensure that area is covered,” he stated.

The CDS, however, said it was not possible for the armed forces to cover the entire Nigerian landscape and called for the strengthening of the police and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to collaborate with the military.

He said that, though there were numerous challenges, Nigerians needed to believe in the armed forces, support intelligence gathering, and desist from collaborating with terrorists for the situation to improve.

Earlier in his remarks, the committee chairman, Rep. Benson Babajimi (APC-Lagos), said that no nation could make sustainable progress without guaranteeing the safety of lives, property, and critical national assets.

He acknowledged the armed forces and security agencies’ efforts to curb insurgency and combat criminality.

Mr Babajimi, however, said the persistence of security threats underscores the need for more institutional reforms, improved coordination, and smarter deployment of scarce resources.

Stating that Nigerians’ expectations were high, the lawmaker promised that the National Assembly would accord priority to the defence and security sector.

“However, increased allocations must be matched with measurable outcomes, value for money, and strict adherence to principles of transparency and accountability,” he added.

Mr Babajimi said the era of input-focused budgeting without commensurate impact was no longer acceptable, saying that Nigerians want outputs and outcomes that reflect operational effectiveness and institutional efficiency.

According to him, while military operations remain essential in degrading and deterring violent threats, experience has shown that sustainable peace requires a complementary non-kinetic strategy.

“Issues such as poverty, youth unemployment, illiteracy, weak local governance, misinformation, community grievances, and ideological radicalisation continue to fuel insecurity across different parts of the country.

“Consequently, this committee strongly advocates a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to national security where we invest significantly in strategic communication to counter extremist ideologies and win the hearts and minds of vulnerable communities.

“We must also fund community peacebuilding architectures that foster local intelligence, dialogue, and reconciliation,” he said.

Mr Babajimi said the National Assembly must also bolster cyber defence to protect digital sovereignty and enhance defence intelligence infrastructure.

He called for investment in border security technology, police reforms, and inter-agency data fusion centres as critical force multipliers.

“We must also encourage collaboration with relevant ministries, departments, and agencies at the federal, state, and local levels,” he said.

The chairman said that the 2026 defence budget must convincingly demonstrate a holistic balance between the sword and the plowshares, between military might and the tools for sustainable peace.

He said that appropriate attention would be paid to personnel welfare, training and capacity development, equipment maintenance and modernisation, intelligence capabilities, logistics, and the sustainability of ongoing operations.

The lawmaker said that recurring issues such as abandoned projects, procurement inefficiencies, and delays in budget implementation must be decisively addressed.

(NAN)