Why Tinubu reshuffled Service Chiefs
…new Service Chiefs must halt terrorism spread – Experts
Amidst growing concerned about the rapid spread of bandits and terrorists into state hitherto considered peaceful in the country, President Bola Tinubu, on Friday, made changes in the hierarchy of the Service Chiefs in furtherance of the efforts of the federal government to strengthen the national security architecture.
Recent indication showed that the insecurity plunged the nation into deeper turbulence over the past two years, with unrelenting violence, mass kidnappings, and persistent acts of terrorism, and banditiry.
The trends which severely tested the Tinubu administration’s security strategy, may have triggered the shake-up of the country’s service chiefs.
Read also: Tinubu sacks service chiefs, replaces Musa with Oluyede
Sunday Dare, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, in a statement, said President Tinubu appointed General Olufemi Oluyede to replace General Christopher Musa as the new Chief of Defence Staff.
W. Shaibu, a Major General, was appointed as the new Chief of Army Staff, even as S. k. Aneke, an Air Vice Marshall, assumed duties as Chief of Air Staff while I. Abbas, a Rear Admiral, was named as new Chief of Naval Staff.
The statement said E. A.P Undiendeye, retained his position as the Chief of Defence Intelligence.
President Tinubu expressed most profound appreciation to the outgoing Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa and the other Service Chiefs for their patriotic service, and dedicated leadership.
He however, charged the newly appointed Service Chiefs to justify the confidence reposed in them to further enhance the professionalism, vigilance and comradeship that define the Armed Forces of Nigeria.
The statement said “all appointments take immediate effect.”
A top Military Officer who did not want his name in print however, told BusinessDay that the removal of the Service Chiefs was part of regular military exercise.
“Every December, the Nigerian military undergoes a round of promotions and retirements to refresh its command structure and create room for younger officers to advance.
“Once a new set of chiefs are appointed, their predecessors must retire to pave the way for career progression within the ranks.”
He disclosed further that President Bola Tinubu’s appointment of new service chiefs should be seen as a “move that became necessary as the outgoing chiefs had each spent about 35 years in service, the statutory limit for officers of their ranks, by military tradition.”
But Lawrence Alobi, a retired Police Deputy Inspector General DIG, applauded President Tinubu’s action, describing it as ” timely.”
“The outgoing Service Chiefs did their best and the President knew that there was need to inject fresh ideas into the battle to deal with growing insecurity.”
Read also: Meet newly appointed service chiefs
Alobi who also served as Commissioner of Police in the federal Capital Territory FCT, charged members of the newly appointed Service Chiefs to “quickly recover communities under the control of bandits.
“They must flush them out of those places and also stop them from spreading to other areas.”
The appointments no doubt came on the backdrop of escalating insecurity, despite repeated assurances from defence authorities, that the government will put an end to the growing spread of insecurity.
The spread of insecurity across regions suggests that existing counterterrorism and policing structures have struggled to contain the nation’s multiple security fronts.
From Boko Haram and ISWAP insurgencies to the rise of new armed groups such as Lukarawas, Wulowulo, banditry in the northwest, and rising kidnapping-for-ransom networks in the central belt, the state’s monopoly of force is being challenged on all sides.
Besides these, the reported spread of terrorism to areas considered ” Safe” earlier, may have also led to the need for the injection of new ideas to tackling the challenges.
Recent reports of an alleged coup attempt, swiftly denied by the Defence Headquarters have only deepened public unease, reflecting how pervasive insecurity and political uncertainty are fuelling anxiety across the country.
A 2023 report by International Rescue Committee (IRC) found that non-state actors were responsible for 3,841 killings and 4,243 abductions nationwide, with the North-Central zone overtaking the long-troubled Northeast as Nigeria’s new epicentre of violence.
Similarly, data from Nextier Intelligence covering January 2023 to March 2024 documented 5,319 casualties, 3,110 kidnappings, and over 1,500 violent incidents across the country, underscoring the diffusion of violence into previously stable regions.
The problem has deepened further in 2024–2025 as Amnesty International reported that over 10,200 people were killed in attacks by armed groups during the first two years of the current administration.
Between July 2023 and June 2024, at least 7,568 people were abducted, with ransom demands exceeding ₦10.9 billion, though only a fraction was actually paid.
In the following year, another 4,722 abductions were recorded alongside ransom payments totalling ₦2.57 billion.
Nowhere is the crisis more visible than in the North-West and North-Central regions, where criminal “bandit” networks raid villages, abduct commuters, and burn farmlands almost with impunity.
Zamfara State alone recorded 854 kidnap victims in 2023, the highest nationwide.
Analysts describe kidnapping as both a lucrative funding mechanism for armed groups and a tool of mass terror that feeds on weak policing and the proliferation of small arms.
In the Northeast, Boko Haram and Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) remain active despite intensified military campaigns.
The June 2024 multiple suicide bombings in Gwoza, Borno State, which claimed dozens of lives during a wedding and funeral, starkly illustrated the insurgency’s persistence.
Read also: Boko Haram uses drone to attack troops, Zulum tells FG
Although the Defence Headquarters claims to have neutralised over 1,900 terrorists in a single quarter, experts argue that the insurgency endures because of deep-seated structural challenges, porous borders, displaced populations, and limited state presence in remote communities.
The Middle Belt continues to suffer from deadly herder–farmer clashes, particularly in Plateau and Benue states.
In May 2023, over 100 people were killed in Mangu Local Government Area, Plateau State, while renewed violence in Benue in early 2025 claimed at least 42 lives.
Competition over land and water, aggravated by climate change and demographic pressures, has turned these disputes into recurring humanitarian crises.
The ethno-religious undertone, often pitting predominantly Muslim herders against largely Christian farming communities, further complicates resolution efforts.
Meanwhile, the digital frontier has become a new battleground. As Nigeria’s economy grows increasingly digital, cybercrime, fintech fraud, and illicit financial flows have escalated dramatically.
Financial institutions reportedly lost ₦52.26 billion to fraud-related activities in 2024 alone.
In the oil-rich Niger Delta, oil theft, pipeline vandalism, and illegal refining continue to drain national revenue.
Despite the deployment of surveillance drones and new monitoring technologies, oil theft remains a multi-billion-naira enterprise sustained by local grievances, corruption, and weak governance.
Amid this web of threats, Nigeria’s security architecture remains overstretched.
Analysts blame inadequate funding, corruption, poor inter-agency coordination, and a bloated federal policing system that lacks the agility to respond to local crises.
The growing calls for state police reflect public frustration with a centralised system that can neither deter nor promptly respond to crime.
Against this backdrop, the resurgence of coup rumours in 2024 and 2025 points to deep-seated institutional fragility.
In February 2024, media reports claimed that the Guards Brigade had been placed on high alert following “unusual movements” a claim swiftly dismissed by the Defence Headquarters as “malicious and unfounded.”
A similar episode occurred in October 2025, when social media buzzed with rumours of a foiled coup linked to the cancellation of Nigeria’s 65th Independence Day parade and the detention of 16 senior officers.
The military again branded the claims “entirely false and intended to cause unnecessary tension.”
Experts, however, caution that such rumours reflect more than idle speculation.
“They mirror the anxiety of a populace confronting insecurity and economic hardship while losing confidence in the state’s ability to protect them,” said one security analyst.
For many observers, the cumulative picture explains why President Tinubu may have opted for a decisive overhaul of the military hierarchy.
The reshuffle, they argue, is both a political and operational necessity, a signal that the government recognises the need for fresh energy, new ideas, and restored public confidence in the armed forces.
