Nigeria has spent about $3.8 billion on special security interventions since late 2023, even as the military reports a sharp fall in militant and criminal attacks.
Documents from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) show that the Federal Government disbursed about $3.8 billion to the military and related security agencies between November 2023 and September 2026, according to Punch Nigeria.
The money came from a dedicated special intervention account that received $4.2 billion over the period, with about 91% already released.
The disbursements were additional to the normal annual allocations for the Ministry of Defense and other security institutions. They were funded through the Federation Account, non-oil revenue and transfers from a FAAC withholding account.
Nigerian military spokesperson Major General Michael Onoja said attacks fell by 73.3% in October, to 269 incidents from 367 in September, a reduction of 98 attacks.
He attributed the decline to sustained operations across the country’s security theatres. Operation Enduring Peace recorded the highest number of incidents at 29, followed by Operation Hadin Kai with 27 and Operation Fansan Yamma with 24.
During October, the military said troops killed more than 217 “terrorists” and criminals, arrested 333 suspects and rescued 349 kidnap victims. It also reported 70 insurgent surrenders, the recovery of 105 arms and 3,174 rounds of ammunition, and the seizure of 756,837 liters of stolen crude-oil products.
Nigeria is also seeking to strengthen its police through a proposed trilateral partnership with the United States and Italy. Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Disu discussed the plan during a visit to Italy, where he met Carabinieri commander Lieutenant-General Salvatore Luongo and inspected the Carabinieri Centre of Excellence for Stability Police Units in Vicenza.
The proposal would provide specialized training for up to 5,000 police personnel in areas including tactical operations, intelligence-led patrols, cybercrime, forensics, explosives detection, financial investigations and asset tracing.
Officials also discussed command courses for 40 senior officers, leadership training for 100 junior commanders, and a mobile assistance team for police training schools in Borno and Osun states. The Nigeria Police Force said the initiative aims to improve readiness, investigations and civilian protection.
Despite the spending and reported gains, Nigeria continues to face terrorism in the North-East, banditry and mass kidnapping in the North-West and North-Central, and crude-oil theft in the south. The government has also begun reviewing its 2019 National Security Strategy to address newer threats including cybercrime, food insecurity and climate change.
